Like we see today, a lot of upcoming music genres have a few artists who turned out to be the keystone of that genre. They’ve contributed so heavily to shaping that particular sound, that the genre wouldn’t be what it is without them.
New Jack Swing has been credited to Teddy Riley, but Keith Sweat has definitely been there at the very beginning, too. It only took him his debut album to break through to become one of the pillars of R&B, and not just as a solo artist.
Very quickly, he spotted the potential of R&B in the 90s and spend his first big earning on starting his very own label, which then went on to launch the careers of Silk and the girl group Kut Klose, with whom he recorded the global hit “Twisted”.
The video is still worth checking out of that song. This was the time when R&B was the hottest thing around and big budgets were made available for the promotion of it. It’s got all the markings of that era in the 90s, the car, the girl, the movielike story lines.
It’s not that surprising that Keith became part of a super group later, joining the likes of Gerald Levert and Johnny Gill for LSG, or Levert Sweat Gill. You may know them from their hit “My Body”.
Since his debut, nothing he produced was still swingbeat, or New Jack Swing. That turned out to be a passing phase, but his career had clearly flourished on his R&B ballads and he knew how to spot winners. But R&B itself went back to the underground and lost the interest by mainstream.
Like many others, Keith had to find something else to do alongside, and became a radio man (also like many others). He presented a show presenting the best slow jams, but has always kept on releasing new music of his own.
This year too. He released “Good Love”, the title track of his upcoming new album. The song was officially released about a month ago, though the audio was shared on YouTube 5 months ago and has already attracted over a million views.
It’s R&B with a clear nod to classic soul and even some neo soul. There’s no doubt, he’s the man of the Quiet Storm. The type of soul music his radio show promotes.
Background vocals are used throughout the track, which brings the track to life. Keith used to have that slightly nasal, squeezed vocal, but his vocals sound more soulful, thicker and matured now. Personally, I like it better this way. “Good Love” is definitely a good track. His album is coming out July 22nd.
