Keith Sweat: A Study In Slow Jams

By JASON BUGG

Keith Sweat may be rolling into Municipal Auditorium the day after Valentine’s Day, but that doesn’t mean that the love won’t still be flowing. Bubbling up to the pop surface after the hits of ’70s and ’80s Love Walruses like Barry White had all but dried up, Sweat is a living, breathing link from those disco-era pioneers to the Autotune drenched rappers of today.

Sweat is one of the last kings of the slow jam. Forget the ringtone-ready street anthems of T-Pain and Lil’ Wayne, Sweat’s songs contain more than hooks — they’re invitations to love.

And we invite you, dear reader, on an audio-visual journey through some career highlights guaranteed to make you you-know-what.

Sweat helped bring the slow jam from its roller rink roots to its penthouse present, all while displaying his rather uncanny sense of timing and vocal delivery. If the aforementioned T-Pain and Lil’ Wayne need a vocal processor to sound nasally and ready for love, Sweat did it naturally and with a sense of class with a touch of hip-hop’s flair. It was called New Jack Swing.