Under the guidance of local music producer Gene Griffin, Riley formed the short-lived group
Kids at Work. At the age of 18, Riley produced
Kool Moe Dee's 12" single "
Go See the Doctor". Riley had previously worked on the production of
Doug E. Fresh and the Get Fresh Crew's "The Show" in 1985. In 1987, Riley,
Aaron Hall, and Timmy Gatling formed the
R&B group
Guy. In 1989, Riley produced
Big Daddy Kane's "I Get the Job Done", as well as other work for
the Jacksons,
the Winans, and
James Ingram. That same year, he helped produce the debut album
Wrecks-n-Effect of his rap group,
Wreckx-n-Effect. After the release and tour of Guy's second album,
The Future, Riley co-produced half of
Michael Jackson's album
Dangerous on the recommendation of Jackson's long-time producer
Quincy Jones. After the disbandment of Guy in 1992, Riley moved on to producing and promoting Wreckx-n-Effect's second album
Hard or Smooth, which he also performed on. In late 1991, Riley formed a second group,
Blackstreet. The group would go on to release several major hits, including "
Don't Leave Me" (1997), the number one single "
No Diggity" (featuring
Dr. Dre and
Queen Pen) (1996), and "
Girlfriend/Boyfriend" (with
Janet Jackson featuring
Ja Rule and
Eve) (1999). By 2011, the group had disbanded and reformed several times. In 2000, Riley worked with
Spice Girl Melanie B on the tracks "ABC 123", "I Believe", and "Pack Your Shit" for her solo debut album
Hot. He also worked on an album with Outsiderz 4 Life, producing "Wil' Out" and other songs. At the start of 2006, he was part of the
New Jack Reunion Tour, featuring Blackstreet and Guy, in addition to
After 7,
SWV, and
Tony! Toni! Toné!. In May 2006, Riley announced that he would be working on two key projects: a new Blackstreet album and a new Guy album. In 2008, Riley was the victim of a
Ponzi scheme that left him bankrupt. In June 2008, a fire destroyed Riley's
Virginia Beach recording studio. Fire investigators said that an electrical problem caused the blaze that burned the abandoned recording studio. The
Virginia Beach Fire Department said lightning in the area also could have been a factor, although there was no direct strike. The empty studio was for sale and was insured for $336,000. In 2009, Riley performed with Guy at the
BET Awards. In the same year, Riley worked with
Amerie and
Robin Thicke on their respective albums. Leading on from his work on
Snoop Dogg's album ''
Ego Trippin''', Riley became part of the production supergroup
QDT, which features
DJ Quik as well as Snoop Dogg. Riley produced and co-wrote the song "
Teeth" with
Lady Gaga for her EP
The Fame Monster. Speaking in March 2010 to
Blues & Soul's Pete Lewis, Riley said that he was no longer affiliated with Guy (Riley had last performed with the group in October 2010). Riley also said that the current lineup of Blackstreet consisted of himself, Chauncey "Black" Hannibal,
Dave Hollister, and Sherman "J-Stylz" Tisdale. He confirmed that he was working on a new Blackstreet album, though intended to release his own album – entitled
TRX – first. Artists he could possibly be working with for the project included
Stevie Wonder and
Elton John, plus his own new, upcoming acts. However, Hannibal stopped performing with the group and the lineup became Riley, Hollister, Mark Middleton, and Eric Williams. In 2012, Hannibal returned to Blackstreet; Middleton and Williams left the group. As of 2019, the group's lineup now consists of Riley, Hollister, J-Stylz, and Rodney Poe under the name "Blackstreet 2". In August 2010, co-executor of the Michael Jackson estate, John Branca, confirmed that a posthumous album from Jackson would be released, containing work done in the previous five years with producers
Theron "Neff-U" Feemster,
Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, and Riley, as well as work written and produced solely by Jackson himself. The album
Michael was released on December 14, 2010, in the United States. After the release, several people questioned some of the music Riley produced for the project. Riley insisted all of the songs were sung by Jackson and claimed that vocal artifacts were added from overprocessing Jackson's voice. However, Riley made comments in an interview with Dan Dodds (also known as Soul Jones) in which he stated that there were some elements of his voice in the music. Riley is reported to have said, "They may use some elements from me, put together ideas but I haven't been working on the new album." Recently, Riley has stepped into the Korean music market. Riley worked with rapper
Jay Park on an English track titled "
Demon", which was originally meant for Michael Jackson. Riley produced a
mini-album for the girl group
Rania. He produced the tracks "Believe" and "Flow" by the R&B group
Boyz II Men for the album
Twenty. He has also produced Korean girl group
Girls' Generation's single "
The Boys" for the group's first international release. He has also produced songs for Girls' Generation's labelmates
Shinee and
Exo. He worked with Shinee on "Beautiful", "Shine", and "Dangerous" from their two-part third studio album
The Misconceptions of Us. Riley also produced the songs "Milk" and "All Night" for
f(x)'s third studio album
Red Light and the song "What Is Love" for Exo. ==Personal life==