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Pharrell Williams · S1 E7
Teddy Riley's Doorstep
The audition that almost didn't happen
Virginia Beach, 1992. A high school gymnasium, a cheap PA system, a Friday night talent show. Pharrell steps on stage, and somewhere in the seats is the man who produced Michael Jackson's Dangerous album and invented New Jack Swing.
My Prerogative, Bobby Brown (1988), produced by Teddy Riley. This is the sound that made two teenagers from Virginia Beach lose their minds. Listen to the drum programming: tight, syncopated, punchy. Every snare hit in every Neptunes track carries Teddy Riley's DNA.
My Prerogative -- Bobby Brown (1988)
Key of F-sharp minor, 112 BPM, produced by Teddy Riley. The track that defined New Jack Swing. Listen to how the drums combine hip-hop programming with R&B swing. The snare is dry and hard, the hi-hats are crisp, and the bass synth bounces underneath everything. This is the production school Pharrell is about to enroll in.
Teddy Riley's Virginia Beach
Here's the cosmic joke: one of the most important producers in the history of R&B lives in Virginia Beach. Not New York, not LA. Teddy Riley relocated from Harlem to build his dream studio, Future Recording Studios, right in Pharrell's backyard. Two of modern music's most influential producers, separated by a fifteen-minute drive.
Future Recording Studios
Teddy Riley's legendary studio, where New Jack Swing was perfected and where two teenagers from Princess Anne High School were about to walk through the door.
TAP TO REVEAL: What did Teddy Riley actually say after the audition?
Is It Good to You -- Teddy Riley & Tammy Lucas
Teddy Riley at his most precise. This is the New Jack Swing production style Pharrell studied up close inside Future Recording Studios. Count every snare hit: this is the class Pharrell enrolled in.
What genre did Teddy Riley invent that dominated late '80s and early '90s R&B?
Season 1 ends here, but the story is just beginning. Next season: inside Future Recording Studios, the apprenticeship, the first real production credits, and the moment The Neptunes get their name and step out of Teddy Riley's shadow forever.
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