Product Description

Although the Swedish-born Nenah Cherry-daughter of jazz trumpeter Don, older sister of singer/songwriter Eagle Eye-had spent the early '80s as the singer in the UK avant-jazz-funkoutfit Rip Rig and Panic and its offshoot Float Up CP, almost nobody had heard of her in the US before this 1988 solo debut. This made the album's impact all the more impressive, as the powerful mix of hip-hop, jazz and pop seemed to come out of nowhere. The inescapable hit "Buffalo Stance", built on samples from Malcolm McLaren's "Buffalo Gals", a solid bass groove and Cherry's tough-girl vocals, is one of the finest pop singles of the late '80s. The rest of the album ranges from the dreamy "Kisses on the Wind" to hard-edged funk. RAW LIKE SUSHI foreshadows the polyglot influences of Soul IISoul and, later, Massive Attack.

Track Listing

1. Buffalo Stance
2. Manchild
3. Kisses On The Wind
4. Inna City Mamma
5. Next Generation
6. Love Ghetto
7. Heart
8. Phoney Ladies
9. Outre Risque Locomotive
10. So Here I Come
11. My Bitch
12. Heart (It's A Demo)
13. Buffalo Stance (1)
14. Manchild (1)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13742 in Music
• Released on: 1989-06-05
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
Defiant, sexy, playful, nervy, womanly, and wise, 1988's Raw Like Sushi was the opening salvo in Neneh Cherry's brilliant, if woefully underappreciated, career. The hit "Buffalo Stance," with its reworking of Malcolm McLaren's Buffalo Gals vibe, found Cherry erroneously labeled as a rap artist. True enough, there are hip-hop elements on Raw Like Sushi, as well as pop, electronic, R&B, and dance, all gleefully mixed up in a progressive melange of beats, cultures, emotions, and grooves. Besides being fierce, funky, and one of the best debuts in memory, Raw Like Sushi helped redefine what women could do in the rigid realm of late-'80s African American music, and it sounds as good today as it did the day it was released. --Amy Linden