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Neneh Cherry forged a groundbreaking mix of genres in the late '80s that pre-saged the emergence of alternative rap and trip-hop, and has gradually added to a discography filled with similarly unpredictable twists. The singer, songwriter, rapper, and producer got her start in the U.K. post-punk scene before she made a mainstream breakthrough as a solo artist with the global smash hit "Buffalo Stance," which sent her eclectic solo debut,
Raw Like Sushi (1989), to the Top Ten of charts in several countries, and led to a Grammy nomination in the category of Best New Artist. Rather than follow the standard path of a commercial musician,
Cherry opted instead to record solo albums every few years, and has assisted on material headlined by artists ranging from
Peter Gabriel to
Gorillaz. In the 2010s, she recorded a series of wildly creative albums, namely
The Cherry Thing (2012),
Blank Project (2014), and
Broken Politics (2018), and in the following decade collaborated with younger artists on new versions of songs from earlier in her career, heard on
The Versions (2022).
Born Neneh Mariann Karlsson on March 10, 1964, in Stockholm, Sweden,
Neneh Cherry is the daughter of West African percussionist Ahmadu Jah and artist
Moki Cherry. Raised by her mother and trumpeter stepfather
Don Cherry in Stockholm and New York City,
Cherry left school at age 14, and in 1980 relocated to London to sing with the post-punk group the Cherries. Following flings with
the Slits and
the Nails, she joined the experimental funk/post-punk outfit
Rip Rig + Panic and appeared on the group's albums God (1981), I Am Cold (1982), and Attitude (1983). During this period, she also recorded with
New Age Steppers and as one-third of the one-off group Raw Sex, Pure Energy. When
Rip Rig + Panic broke up,
Cherry remained with one of the spin-off groups, Float Up CP, and led them through Kill Me in the Morning (1985). The next year, she was featured on "Slow Train to Dawn," a single off
the The's
Infected.
In 1987,
Cherry and fellow artist
Cameron McVey (aka
Booga Bear) became long-term creative and personal partners after they met as models for Ray Petri, creator of the Buffalo fashion house. Later that year,
Cherry co-wrote and was featured on a B-side version of Morgan/McVey's
Stock Aitken Waterman-produced "Looking Good Diving," titled "Looking Good Diving with the Wild Bunch." Signed to the Circa label,
Cherry hit the U.K. singles chart as a solo artist in December 1988 with "Buffalo Stance," itself a revamped version of "Looking Good Diving with the Wild Bunch." The
Bomb the Bass collaboration reached number three in the U.K. (and performed similarly well in several other territories). Furthermore, the song neatly forecast the eclectic fusion of pop smarts and knowing hip-hop energy showcased throughout the parent album,
Raw Like Sushi. A number two (and eventually platinum) U.K. hit issued in June 1989, the LP featured executive production from
McVey and additional input from the likes of Will Malone and
Nellee Hooper, as well as Mushroom and
3D of
Massive Attack. A pair of additional singles, "Manchild" and "Kisses on the Wind," followed "Buffalo Stance," as did a nomination for a Grammy in the category of Best New Artist (won by
Milli Vanilli).
After she contributed to the benefit album
Red Hot + Blue (with an interpretation of
Cole Porter's "I've Got You Under My Skin") and
Massive Attack's
Blue Lines (as co-writer, arranger, and background vocalist on "Hymn of the Big Wheel"),
Cherry returned with her second album,
Homebrew, in 1992. A more subdued collection than
Raw Like Sushi, the number 27 U.K. chart entry featured cameos from
Gang Starr and
Michael Stipe, and writing and production assistance from
McVey, Jonny Dollar, and
Geoff Barrow (pre-dating the latter's emergence with
Portishead).
Cherry returned to the charts in 1994 as
Youssou N'Dour's duet partner on "7 Seconds," another global hit, but was otherwise on child-raising hiatus until 1996, when she resurfaced with
Man, a number 16 U.K. hit containing "7 Seconds," an update of
Marvin Gaye's "Trouble Man" (featuring piano from half-brother
Eagle-Eye), and "Woman," an empowering response to
James Brown's "It's a Man's Man's Man's World." A remix version of the album, simply titled Remixes, followed in 1998.
Cherry prioritized family life well into the new millennium, raising her daughters Naima, Tyson, and
Mabel, and cropped up with intermittent activity, including collaborations with
Live's
Edward Kowalczyk ("Walk Into This Room"),
Peter Gabriel (
OVO), and
Gorillaz ("Kids with Gunz"), as well as recordings with her band
cirKus.
Cherry returned in the 2010s with some of her most progressive recordings yet. For 2012's
The Cherry Thing, she fronted
the Thing, the experimental Scandinavian jazz trio whose founding mission was to play her stepfather's music. The album mixed originals with imaginative reworkings of songs initially recorded by the likes of
Ornette Coleman,
the Stooges,
Suicide, and indeed,
Don Cherry. In 2013, she collaborated with London duo
RocketNumberNine on their album
MeYouWeYou, and worked with them on her long-awaited fourth proper studio album,
Blank Project. Produced by
Kieran Hebden (aka
Four Tet), the album was released in 2014 and consisted of originals written by
Cherry with
McVey and
Paul Simm. Another set with
Hebden on production, the meditative and undaunted
Broken Politics, followed in 2018.
A 30th anniversary expanded reissue of
Raw Like Sushi was released in 2020. The same year, the first verse of the album's "Buffalo Stance" was included in
Dua Lipa's
Club Future Nostalgia: The Remix Album (mixed by
the Blessed Madonna), and
Cherry co-wrote and appeared on
the Avalanches' "Wherever You Go." Admiration for
Cherry's first three solo albums continued to grow, and in 2022,
Cherry partnered with ten artists -- ranging from daughter Tyson and
Jamila Woods to
Sia and
Robyn -- to record
The Versions, consisting of updates of highlights from
Raw Like Sushi,
Homebrew, and
Man. ~ Jason Ankeny & Andy Kellman