ICYMI: I’d put together a “study guide” when Face & Teddy were initially supposed to battle including a fantasy battle card to map out your predictions. I revised and dropped it anyway, but posting again since now it can serve its intended purpose! https://twitter.com/naima/status/1247364008933576704

I’m in the middle of moving #MusicSermon’s site to a new platform, and found a post I never published based on a Teddy Riley sermon I guess I was planning (I did a Teddy playlist but never a Teddy sermon), so in prep for tonight, let’s do a quick run down of Teddy’s greatest.

The good brother Phonte (I’m not tagging him bc he’ll be stuck in the whole thread) noted that the difference tonight will be between hits and JAMS. Babyface has hits for days.
Teddy has *points mic to crowd*

The early years:
Doug E Fresh x The Show.
Andre Harrell has called this baby Teddy production the official beginning of the New Jack Swing era.

Kool Moe Dee x Wild Wild West

Teddy was a producer on Moe Dee’s LL diss track “How Ya Like Me Now,” and the album of the same name, including “Wild Wild West.” He includes Kool Moe Dee in his “and friends” sets sometimes, but I think he gets left out of Teddy’s production convos

Early Teddy production is a Harlem story, especially his partnership with Keith Sweat. They were in separate groups that performed in the same circles. When Sweat got his deal and left his Wall St. gig, he came and found Teddy, said he wanted him on the album.

They jammin’ lol

Make it Last Forever sold 4 million albums. In 1988. A debut artist. With no pop hits.

This is definitely gonna be one of Teddy’s trump cards tonight

As is this. I mean, if “Just Got Paid” comes on, something on your body is moving. It’s impossible not to.

Even though Teddy ran down his whole production roster in Wreckx n Effect’s “New Jack Swing” (and we’ll get today), Today also gets left out of his production convos - out of the new jack swing convos, actually, which is shame.

But if Teddy puts a Today song in the lineup for tonight, it’ll probably be this one. Still a joint - raht now.

Honestly Teddy has like 6 good trump card songs. (There’s only one Big Joker, though, and that’ll be the last thing I post). This is 100% one of them.
Even if you don’t know alot about production technique and all that, you know if a song still works 30+ years later.

Babyface can counter this with any of the 4 (5?) other singles from Don’t Be Cruel, though, so WHEN he plays “My Prerogative” matters.

Ok, let’s talk about Guy songs.

“Groove Me” is very, very, very important. It’s an important song. The only reason it’s not my favorite Guy song is because I can’t chose a favorite Guy song. I’ma be up dancing when he drops this.

Guy got uptempos, Guy got mids...
Guy got adlibs!!

I like the way you wear your hair... I like the stylish clothes you wear...” (I wonder if they had to pay Eldra for that...)

And Guy has ALLLLLL the ballads. Even shady ones.

Ok, no “Goodbye Love” is my favorite Guy song. I be singing this sh*t for my life, switching back and forth between Aaron & Tammy Lucas’ parts.

Side note: I forgot until looking @ this cover that Damien wasn’t originally in the group.

I doubt Teddy will put this one up tonight, but one of my favorite remakes. Aaron’s whole vocal style is Charlie Wilson’s (and then Kells copied Aaron) so it works. Andre even said he saw Guy as Uptown’s Gap Band.

Teddy could really just cut the track for “Let’s Chill” and let us all do this at home...

One of MY Teddy-produced faves, probably my Heav fave, and one of my favorite “lemme get some energy going” songs period, even now. I just can’t even guess where he puts this in his line up.

A few joints that are worth mentioning but that I don’t know whether he’ll play tonight:

1. His version of Is it Good to You w/ Tammy Lucas

2. Heavy’s version of “Is It Good to You”

I’m on the fence about whether he’ll use “I Get the Job Done.” It’s not my favorite Kane, but it’s Kane. It’s also a bop.

I’m also on the fence about whether he uses “Now That We Found Love” (with Aaron on background vocals).
Shout out to Big Lez.

I’ma PERSONALLY be scanning comments for P to chime in when this drops...

Also when he drops this one...

Face and Teddy can go head to head on two Bobby albums (even though Face laps him on the first one). If Get Away goes up against Humpin’ Around... man I don’t know...

He has to put “Something in Common” up because it’s Bobby and Whitney, right?
The round that makes the most sense would be this against “Give You My Heart”

A trump card.
A moment.
A timeless classic.

I normally wouldn’t use my 2:20 for an intro, but this sh*t is so damn ‘90s.

Teddy also has 3 whole groups of his own to go through. But he can’t really touch Face on ballads, no matter how good.

This performance of “No Diggity” was on All That, which in retrospect seems kinda inappropriate.

So... unpopular opinion: I don’t think Blackstreet songs (with the exception of “Before I Let You Go” held up as well and some of Teddy’s other stuff. I love the vocals, but too heavy on the synths and stuff for me.

If I’m Teddy, I’m setting the tone round 1 with this song at this part...

The thing is, Face & LA have something they can put up against almost anything if Face plays it right. Early Pebbles, the Don’t Be Cruel album, On Our Own, Humpin’ Around, Baby Baby Baby... they got some jams. But Teddy is gonna stack the deck with the Dangerous album.

And if Edward Theodore Riley (lol... Eddie Teddy) has ANY sense of strategy, he’s closing with this and the crowd will go wild.
THE BIG JOKER.

Let the game begin!!
But firs, a word from Bobby Brown.