Various (compiled by Bob Stanley) - New Jill Swing 1988-94 Various (compiled by Bob Stanley)

New jill swing was a cheeky response to the very male, late 80s world of new jack swing, and it was the dawn of a golden age for female R&B in the 90s.

The original source of new jack swing - or swingbeat - could be found in key records such as Janet Jackson’s “Control”, produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, which mixed hard beats with soul, real R&B with 808s and a tough shuffle. Producer Teddy Riley took these sounds a step further at the end of the 80s, blending them with hip- hop because - strange as it now seems – hip-hop in the 80s was barely integrated into R&B.

Solo acts like Karyn White (‘The Way You Love Me’) and Jasmine Guy (‘Try Me’) followed in Janet Jackson’s future-perfect footsteps, inspiring a bunch of female groups who followed in the early 90s. The initial ground-breakers were a Motown act called the Good Girls who were set up to be a swingbeat Supremes, with the wonderful ‘Your Sweetness’ in 1989. 1990 saw the emergence of R&B superstars En Vogue whose confidence and style proved that swingbeat wasn’t just a genre for boy bands. Xscape (‘Love On My Mind’) followed in 1991 while SWV (‘I’m So Into You’) and Jade (‘Don’t Walk Away’) both had their first UK hits in the spring of 1993. These hits were also pop classicist in their melodies and lyrics, harking back to 60s girl groups as much as they looked forward to the 21st century.