Teddy Riley: Remember the Times

Grammy-winning producer Riley chronicles his more than 40-year-long music career in this down-to-earth debut. Riley grew up a musically talented kid in a 1970s and ’80s New York City gripped by the crack epidemic, an environment that shaped his music as he took “everything from the hustler lifestyle I was seeing and hearing around me” and poured it “into the sound I was crafting,” a mix of rap beats and R&B melodies and vocals that came to be known as new jack swing. Riley sticks close to his professional relationships throughout, recalling time spent in the studio with R&B group Blackstreet along with stars Kool Moe Dee, Bobby Brown, Snoop Dogg, and Michael Jackson (he describes the pedal-to-the-metal production of 1991’s Dangerous). Plenty of space is also devoted to rehashing his toxic working relationship with former manager Gene Griffin, with whom Riley cut ties in 1990. Riley’s tone is appealingly conversational, and colorful behind-the-scene details are interwoven into a big-picture look at how popular music has evolved, from hip-hop to K-pop, during his time in the industry. The result is a candid, illuminating window into the career of one of rap and R&B’s major players. (Feb.)