Album: Raw Like Sushi
Artist: Neneh Cherry
Cherry demonstrates the "buffalo stance", which involves crossing your arms and tilting your head with a stern expression at someone, to perfection in the video. Manchild, which was a UK No.5 hit, is the other single I remember enjoying around the time of the album's release. Cherry's style of intricate rapping, almost inspired by the freeform jazz of her father, is one of the best features of the song. Manchild was co-written by Massive Attack's Robert Del Naja, and the lyrics paint the picture of an emotionally immature young man unable to face up to his responsibilities. The video is notable for featuring Cherry's 2-month old son, who had already appeared on TV in the form of a late pregnancy bump on Top Of The Pops; this is one of many things I respect about Cherry, her willingness to challenge female stereotypes. Inna City Momma and The Next Generation pay homage to strong, independent mothers, the latter a plea to take responsibility for one's sexual actions, though it does come across as quite strident at times. Tracks like Heart and Phony Ladies are attacks on fickle, cold-hearted women, with Heart specifically about women who steal men from other women ("only back alley rats take other people's cats"). Cherry does come across as very youthful, but what surprised me listening to the album was how much quality there was beyond the two hit singles I knew already. As well as the tracks mentioned above, Kisses On The Wind and So Here I Come are also brilliant moments. Raw Like Sushi not only sounded unlike anything before it, but it was also funny and thought-provoking and full of personality. As a sign of a true talent, Cherry's still putting out great music now.
Artist: Neneh Cherry
Born: Stockholm, Sweden
Released: May 1989
Genre: Hip Hop
Influenced: Arrested Development, Massive Attack, Fugees, Tricky, M.I.A., Erykah Badu
Daughter of US jazz trumpeter Don Cherry and Swedish artist Moki, Neneh Cherry had a transatlantic existence as a child and came to London in her teenage years to find fame as a punk rocker. Punk's strong feminist strain (referenced earlier on this blog) was clearly influential on Cherry, and via family connections she actually got to play with The Slits at a young age. She was also inspired by the lead singer of X-Ray Spex, Poly Styrene, and mimicked her singing style from a young age. Throughout Raw Like Sushi, her voice switches accents often, sometimes within the same verse, while her style can vary from streetwise and spiteful to sweet and sophisticated, sometimes within the same song. Like the Native Tongues, her take on hip hop is highly unique, adding dance and R&B to the mix to create a tough feminist persona in a genre that was highly macho. Gangsters and pimps are the target of her most famous single, Buffalo Stance, which I remember enjoying immensely as a kid without any knowledge of the lyrical content. Buffalo Stance alternates between various moods, with anger at sexism offset by moments of tenderness, such as the anti-materialistic chorus ("no money man can win my love / it's sweetness that I'm thinking of"). Fashion was important to Cherry, and the bomber jacket was clearly of its time, while the hip hop influence of Run-DMC is obvious in the way she starts the song by introducing her "band": the hi-hat, the tambourine and the DJ and his records. My only criticism looking at the video of Buffalo Stance now is that it does seem quite dated, while her fake cockney accent in the style of Dick Van Dyke is a little cringeworthy.
Daughter of US jazz trumpeter Don Cherry and Swedish artist Moki, Neneh Cherry had a transatlantic existence as a child and came to London in her teenage years to find fame as a punk rocker. Punk's strong feminist strain (referenced earlier on this blog) was clearly influential on Cherry, and via family connections she actually got to play with The Slits at a young age. She was also inspired by the lead singer of X-Ray Spex, Poly Styrene, and mimicked her singing style from a young age. Throughout Raw Like Sushi, her voice switches accents often, sometimes within the same verse, while her style can vary from streetwise and spiteful to sweet and sophisticated, sometimes within the same song. Like the Native Tongues, her take on hip hop is highly unique, adding dance and R&B to the mix to create a tough feminist persona in a genre that was highly macho. Gangsters and pimps are the target of her most famous single, Buffalo Stance, which I remember enjoying immensely as a kid without any knowledge of the lyrical content. Buffalo Stance alternates between various moods, with anger at sexism offset by moments of tenderness, such as the anti-materialistic chorus ("no money man can win my love / it's sweetness that I'm thinking of"). Fashion was important to Cherry, and the bomber jacket was clearly of its time, while the hip hop influence of Run-DMC is obvious in the way she starts the song by introducing her "band": the hi-hat, the tambourine and the DJ and his records. My only criticism looking at the video of Buffalo Stance now is that it does seem quite dated, while her fake cockney accent in the style of Dick Van Dyke is a little cringeworthy.
Cherry demonstrates the "buffalo stance", which involves crossing your arms and tilting your head with a stern expression at someone, to perfection in the video. Manchild, which was a UK No.5 hit, is the other single I remember enjoying around the time of the album's release. Cherry's style of intricate rapping, almost inspired by the freeform jazz of her father, is one of the best features of the song. Manchild was co-written by Massive Attack's Robert Del Naja, and the lyrics paint the picture of an emotionally immature young man unable to face up to his responsibilities. The video is notable for featuring Cherry's 2-month old son, who had already appeared on TV in the form of a late pregnancy bump on Top Of The Pops; this is one of many things I respect about Cherry, her willingness to challenge female stereotypes. Inna City Momma and The Next Generation pay homage to strong, independent mothers, the latter a plea to take responsibility for one's sexual actions, though it does come across as quite strident at times. Tracks like Heart and Phony Ladies are attacks on fickle, cold-hearted women, with Heart specifically about women who steal men from other women ("only back alley rats take other people's cats"). Cherry does come across as very youthful, but what surprised me listening to the album was how much quality there was beyond the two hit singles I knew already. As well as the tracks mentioned above, Kisses On The Wind and So Here I Come are also brilliant moments. Raw Like Sushi not only sounded unlike anything before it, but it was also funny and thought-provoking and full of personality. As a sign of a true talent, Cherry's still putting out great music now.
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