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.