"Right Here" is the debut single of American R&B girl group SWV, released on August 20, 1992, as the lead single from their debut album, It's About Time (1992). A remixed version, referred to as "Right Here (Human Nature Remix)" and based around a feature of Michael Jackson's 1982 song "Human Nature", was released in July 1993, and charted on the US Billboard charts as a double-A-side with "Downtown". This version became a number-one R&B single, selling 1,000,000 copies and earning a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
In 2003, Q Magazine ranked the Human Nature Remix of the song at number 651 in their list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever" and in 2017, Billboard named it number 17 on their list of "100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time".
Original and remixed song
The original version of "Right Here" was released in August 1992. It peaked at number 13 on the Hot R&B Singles chart. Tamara "Taj" Johnson wrote and performed the bridge to the original song, which would result in her first (of many) co-writing credits on SWV songs.
The "Human Nature" remix done by Allen "Allstar" Gordon (and credited to Teddy Riley) samples Michael Jackson's 1982 hit "Human Nature". The group revealed in a 2014 interview that they initially did not like Teddy Rileys “Human Nature” remix because they felt it was too boring and would not be a hit. The remix spent seven weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart, as well as three weeks atop the Rhythmic Top 40 chart. It became one of the longest running number-one R&B singles of 1993. It also peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart." It also reached the top ten in Europe, including the United Kingdom, where it peaked at number three in September 1993.
"Right Here (Human Nature Remix)" appears on the soundtrack and in the film Free Willy (1993). The first verse of the Human Nature remix varies slightly from the original version, and the rapped bridge is omitted. The remix also features a young Pharrell Williams chanting "S..., Double, U... To The V!" during the song. This became a common "call" during the group's concerts.
"Right Here [Human Nature Remix]" was later remixed again for SWV's EP The Remixes as a more obvious mash-up with the song's sample, "Human Nature" by Michael Jackson, whose vocals are featured in the remixed duet. The "Human Nature" remix has also been sampled by the late rapper 2Pac on the track "Thug Nature" from Too Gangsta for Radio (2001). R&B singer Chris Brown's song "She Ain't You" (2011) samples Michael Jackson's "Human Nature" and a portion of SWV's remixed version. Human Nature was also sampled by Nas in the hit song "It Ain't Hard to Tell" on his debut album Illmatic (1994).
Critical reception
Larry Flick from Billboard felt that the original version of "Right Here" has a "rigid funk/R&B beat-bottom" that "marks an intriguing contrast to loose, personality-driven vocals" by Cheryl Gamble, and remarked that she is further supported by "En Vogue-style backing vocals and a sassy rap break" by Tamara Johnson. An editor from Complex described the Human Nature Remix as "pure genius." Alan Jones from Music Week gave it four out of five, noting that "this widely-bootlegged melding of a track" is released with Michael Jackson's blessing. He added, "The samples of his emoting transforms what was a fairly ordinary track into a genuine chart contender. The girls warble effectively and pleasingly, and can only benefit from the association."
Mark Kinchen for the RM Dance Update wrote, "This is one of the best female vocal tracks I have heard for a long time — mostly because of the trio's unique vocal style. Producer Brian Alexander Morgan outdid himself on this." Tony Cross from Smash Hits gave the remix four out of five, stating that Jackson's "Human Nature" "is the perfect vehicle for their high harmonies and they have turned his old choirboy rendition into something with much more sass and soul. It's a welcome revival of a good tune. And they've done it even better than Michael did!" Charles Aaron from Spin noted the 1993 remix as a "total radio swoon and uncanny appropriation that lets you enjoy Michael Jackson in a way not heard since, say, "O.P.P." Thank Teddy Riley for the remix, but this female trio relaxes, croons, and converses so lovely, you gotta feel suave."