Keith Sweat

A singer who always keeps his cool, Keith Sweat makes it look easy even as he conquers challenges; the toughest being his shift through several different eras of R&B without compromising his style and sensibility as a purveyor of bedroom-ready slow jams and other smooth songs that fuse the best of old and new. It helps that Sweat—who was born in Harlem in 1961—knows firsthand what music was like back in the day, having started out as a vocalist and songwriter in New York-area R&B and disco acts as a teenager in the ’70s. His break came in 1987 when “I Want Her”—written and produced by Sweat and his friend Teddy Riley—helped launch the swaggering, hip-hop-infused funk-pop sound known as new jack swing. On the back of that smash and several ballads that foregrounded his falsetto and his signature sharp vocal style, Sweat’s debut album, Make It Last Forever, sold three million copies. Through the ‘80s and ‘90s, Sweat remained one of R&B’s preeminent acts both as an artist and as a writer/producer for discoveries like Kut Klose and Ol’ Skool. He kept it nice and smooth with LSG, an ultra-suave supergroup with Gerald Levert and Johnny Gill. His devotion to the fundamentals of Philly soul and Quiet Storm continued to shine through on later albums like 2018’s Playing For Keeps and in his impeccable selections on The Sweat Hotel, his long-running syndicated radio show.