Keith Sweat, born in Harlem in 1961, helped define new jack swing — his Teddy Riley-produced debut Make It Last Forever (1987) delivered I Want Her and set the template for the era. Keep It Comin' (1991) and the self-titled Keith Sweat (1996) round out the essentials. Find Keith Sweat vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
Keith Crier, performing as Keith Sweat, was born in Harlem, New York on July 22, 1961. He worked on Wall Street before launching his music career in the mid-1980s. His debut Make It Last Forever (1987), produced largely by Teddy Riley (a foundational figure in new jack swing), became a commercial breakthrough - the title track and I Want Her became defining hits of the emerging new jack swing era. He has continued releasing material across multiple decades alongside hosting his syndicated radio show The Sweat Hotel (since 2005). He was a founding member of the supergroup LSG (with Gerald Levert and Johnny Gill) in the late 1990s.
Keith Sweat's sound combines R&B, contemporary R&B, new jack swing, soul, quiet storm, and pop R&B with his distinctive vocal delivery (the begging style, as it was widely characterized) and arrangements drawing on classic 1980s and 1990s urban contemporary production approaches. His foundational influence on new jack swing is widely documented.
Original Vintertainment / Elektra pressings of the Keith Sweat catalog are widely collected. Multiple anniversary editions of Make It Last Forever have been released.
Listeners new to Keith Sweat typically start with Make It Last Forever (1987) or Keep It Comin' (1991).
