Keith Sweat

One of the big urban pop crooners of the 1990s, Keith Sweat was part of the New Jack Swing scene that revamped American soul music into a sexy, smooth, swaggering, modern form of R&B. Raised in Harlem, Sweat worked on the New York Stock Exchange before being spotted singing in night clubs with his band Jamilah and signed to Electra Records in 1987. With its mix of slowed down hip-hop beats, jazz grooves and sultry romancing, his debut album Make It Last Forever became a landmark of the genre and produced the US number five hit I Want Her. Defined by producer Teddy Riley's trademark sound, I'll Give All My Love To You (1990), Get Up On It (1994) and Keith Sweat (1996) all made the US top ten, while singles Make You Sweat, I'll Give All My Love To You and Keep It Comin' became big radio anthems of the time. He scored his biggest-selling hits with Twisted and Nobody in 1996 and collaborated with later Snoop Dogg on Come And Get Me. But his popularity gradually faded on later albums Ridin' Solo (2010) and Til The Morning (2011) and he took to hosting a long-running radio show called the Keith Sweat Hotel.