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Teddy Riley changed the face of black music in the ’80s and early ’90s with the New Jack Swing sound he laced artists like Michael Jackson, Keith Sweat and Bobby Brown, as well his own groups Guy and Blackstreet.

In a recent interview with SoulCulture, Riley talks about the failed reunion of Guy, as well as the upcoming album from Blackstreet which will feature a cover of “Heaven Can Wait,” a song Riley wrote for Michael Jackson’s 2001 album, Invincible.

Riley also revealed how it came to be that he sang the first verse on Blackstreet’s classic 1996 single, “No Diggity.”

Teddy Riley on ‘Heaven Can Wait’:

“He wanted that song to be a single and I’d like for it to be a single with us… I can’t wait ’til you hear us sing it. Michael did it some justice but Blackstreet is gonna do something incredible with that song.”

On ‘No Diggity’:

“None of the guys liked ‘No Diggity’. None of them. They would even say it. That’s why I’m singing the first verse.. You know how they say they pushed the little one out there to see if it tastes good and see if he would get egged? Well they pushed me out there – and it became a hit. And now they wish they were singing the first verse, so that they can have the notoriety like me. So they trust what I’m saying…”

On Guy’s failed comeback:

“I wanted to put Guy back together… and we were together for about four weeks. We did a show three weeks ago and that was it – because these guys got happy, they let it get to their head and they couldn’t hold their heads up. And that was it, because they felt like they were stars again, they didn’t want to do certain things… That’s not what I want. I want what I’ve done with Blackstreet; the reason we are who we are and what we’ve done… is because we cater to our fans.”

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