walking upstream…
Bobby Brown
photo: sister circle live · cc by 3.0 ↗Bobby Brown
sourcesBillboard · Red Bull Music Academy Daily
Robert Barisford Brown broke out as a teenage co-lead in New Edition before walking away from the group in 1986 to go solo, and within two years became the breakout face of new jack swing — the drum-machine-and-harmony fusion he cut with producer Teddy Riley on 1988's Don't Be Cruel. The album's run of hits, including the Riley-produced "My Prerogative" and the Grammy-winning "Every Little Step," made him one of the defining R&B stars of the late '80s, as known for his gravel-edged swagger and street-style choreography as for the records themselves. His later life, including his marriage to Whitney Houston, would overshadow the music, but the sound he and Riley built together still underwrites most uptempo R&B that followed.
the sound in question
1988
My PrerogativeBobby Brown
walk the tributaries ↓
Teddy Riley1990s · New jack swing / R&B / Hip hop soul
Riley — who has described building new jack swing by fusing James Brown's rhythmic snap with Michael Jackson's pop instincts — brought that sound directly to Brown, producing the genre-defining "My Prerogative" after Brown traveled to record in Riley's home studio; the two clashed in the session, but the friction, in Riley's own account, is what ended up on the record. The collaboration made Brown new jack swing's first breakout solo star.
listen: upstream & heresource: Essence ↗
1988
Groove MeTeddy Riley
1988
My PrerogativeBobby Brown
listen forThe syncopated drum-machine snap, stuttering vocal ad-libs and hip-hop-swung backbeat under "My Prerogative" is Riley's new jack swing template, built specifically around Brown's voice.
James Brown1960s–70s · Funk / Soul / R&B
James Brown was one of Bobby Brown's earliest childhood idols — a performance James Brown gave in Boston when Brown was three years old is what first sparked his dream of becoming a professional singer, and Brown built his stage persona around the same hard-funk showmanship: splits, spins, and a body that answers the beat as much as the voice does.
listen: upstream & heresource: Wikipedia ↗
1965
I Got You (I Feel Good)James Brown
1989
Every Little StepBobby Brown
listen forThe grunted ad-libs and sudden stop-on-a-dime dance breaks Brown drops into his uptempo numbers are straight out of the James Brown playbook — the band cutting out so the body can finish the sentence.
Michael Jackson1980s · Pop / R&B / Dance
Brown has named Michael Jackson among his formative musical influences, and the connection ran in both directions during his teenage years — New Edition itself was assembled and marketed in the Jackson 5 mold, and Brown's clean, high vocal ad-libs and sharply isolated dance breaks on his solo debut carried the Jackson template before New Jack Swing gave him a rougher, distinct sound of his own.
listen: upstream & heresource: Wikipedia ↗
1979
Don't Stop 'Til You Get EnoughMichael Jackson
1986
GirlfriendBobby Brown
listen forThe boyish, high-register vocal runs and precise, isolated body-pop choreography on "Girlfriend" carry Jackson's late-'70s polish, recorded just before Brown roughened his voice and stage persona for Don't Be Cruel.