1975–1984: Career beginnings with Jamilah Sweat started his musical career as a member of a Harlem band called Jamilah in 1975. With the help of Jamilah, Sweat was able to hone his craft as a lead singer by performing regionally throughout the Tri-state area of
New York,
New Jersey, and
Connecticut. The group was started by bassist Larry Peoples, guitarist Michael Samuels, and drummer Walter Bradley. After leaving the group in 1984 to begin a solo career, Sweat sang at
nightclubs throughout New York City and landed a chance to record for the
independent label, Stadium Records. Sweat recorded only two tunes for Stadium, "Lucky Seven" and "My Mind Is Made Up," which was their third and fourth ever release, but on Stadium's first release, he is credited as co-writer and co-producer of "You Are the One for Me," the last recording ever made by the group
GQ. One of GQ's original members is his uncle, Keith "Sabu" Crier.
1987–1989: Make It Last Forever Later in 1987, Keith Sweat was discovered by Vincent Davis and offered a recording contract with his label, Vintertainment Records, which was founded in 1983 on the foundations of early
Hip-Hop and otherwise best known for releasing Joeski Love's "Pee Wee's Dance" in 1985. Vintertainment was distributed by
Elektra Records from 1985 until it ceased operations in 1990. While crafting his debut album, Sweat pursued fellow Harlem resident
Teddy Riley, who, at this time, was better known for writing for and producing hip-hop artists. According to Riley, he already had the beats prepared for "
I Want Her" and "Make It Last Forever," along with all of the background vocals for "I Want Her." (No. 1 R&B & No. 5 Pop), which was nominated for the
1989 Soul Train Best R&B/Urban Contemporary Song of the Year award, while
the title track from the album hit No. 2 on the
R&B charts.
1990-1991: ''I'll Give All My Love to You, and Keep It Comin'' Sweat reached the charts again with his second album ''
I'll Give All My Love to You (1990) which hit No. 6 on the Billboard
200 chart. He released his third album, Keep It Comin''' in 1991, which debuted in the Top 20 of the album chart. He produced soul singer Omar Chandler.
1992–2001: Get Up on It, Keith Sweat/LSG In 1992, Sweat discovered the group
Silk, and helped craft their debut album,
Lose Control, which hit No. 7 on the
Billboard 200 album chart. The album's single "
Freak Me" hit No. 1 on the
Billboard Hot 100 on May 1, 1993. In 1993, Sweat discovered the Atlanta-based female R&B group
Kut Klose. Sweat also produced the group's debut album
Surrender, which produced their biggest hit single "
I Like", peaking to No. 8 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. In the fall of 1994, Sweat appeared in the group
Black Men United (BMU) reuniting with Silk,
Gerald Levert,
Al B. Sure!,
Brian McKnight,
El DeBarge and others for the single "U Will Know", which was written by R&B musician
D'Angelo for the
soundtrack the film ''
Jason's Lyric''. Sweat released his fourth album
Get Up on It in the summer of 1994, and his
self-titled fifth album in 1996. Both albums reached the top ten on the
Billboard 200. The single co/produced and written by Eric McCaine "
Twisted" featuring R&B group Kut Klose hit No. 2 on the
Billboard Hot 100 and "
Nobody" hit No. 3, which made them Sweat's biggest hits to date. "Just A Touch" was a cover of the 1979 song "Just a Touch of Love" by
Slave. He produced for R&B group
Dru Hill in 1996. In the fall of 1997, Sweat discovered the group
Ol' Skool and helped with their self-titled debut. He was on their biggest single, "Am I Dreaming", which featured the R&B group
Xscape. Sweat also formed the R&B
supergroup LSG with
Gerald Levert and
Johnny Gill, and released their self-titled debut album
Levert.Sweat.Gill was released that November. That album featured "
My Body", which became a hit single. The album was certified double platinum and reached No. 4 on the U.S. Billboard 200. Sweat's sixth album,
Still in the Game was released in 1998, hitting No. 6 on the
Billboard 200, and No. 2 on the R&B/Hip Hop albums chart. It featured the singles "Come and Get With Me" (which featured rapper
Snoop Dogg) (No. 12 Hot 100) and "
I'm Not Ready" (No. 16 Hot 100). Sweat's success on the charts started to diminish in 2000, when he released the album ''
Didn't See Me Coming''. None of the singles from the album reached the top forty.
2002–present: Rebirth, Just Me, Ridin Solo, and Til the Morning On August 13, 2002, Keith Sweat released his eighth album,
Rebirth. The single "One on One" reached No. 75 on the
Billboard Hot 100 and No. 44 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. His 2008 album
Just Me included the single, "Love U Better (featuring
Keyshia Cole)". Sweat is currently signed to
Kedar Records and released his tenth studio album entitled ''Ridin' Solo'' on June 22, 2010. The lead single taken from the album is "Test Drive" and featured label-mate
Joe. Since 2007, Sweat has been the host of
The Keith Sweat Hotel —a nationally syndicated radio program with
Premiere Networks based upon the
Quiet storm format. == Personal life ==