686 Neneh Cherry - Raw Like Sushi (1989)

Studio Album - Pop-Hop

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About the Act:

Neneh Cherry is Swedish! I thought she was from NY. Nope, Swedeland. And she moved to London where she lived in a squat with members of The Slits when she was 15. She is known for being a singer/songwriter and rapper. Her most famous track was Buffalo Stance (1989). She as released 5 solo albums but also has done a lot of collaboration.

About the Album:

This was her first album and it sold really well.

My History with this Album:

None

Review:

Buffalo Stance, Manchild, those are the two tracks I knew by Neneh Cherry. They are the first two tracks on this album. I really quite like Buffalo Stance, and maybe my favourite part is when she does a London accent. I liked Manchild less at the time, but actually quite enjoyed it the three times I heard it for this review. Maybe it does better with better sound reproduction, or maybe I have mellowed towards it. It has some really random chord changes.

The rest of the album is similar, I guess more similar to Buffalo Stance than Manchild, but just in case you don't know them, I'll try to explain. In the 80s Rap was a thing, it started, well it started before then, but the breakthrough was stuff by the Sugarhill Gang, and Grandmaster Flash. At the time I quite liked it. There was also this pop thing, with megastars like Michael Jackson and Madonna. So Buffalo Stance might have been one of the first tracks (or one of the first I remember) to combine pop and rap, or to rap in a pop song. That is of course excluding Rapture by Blondie, which was 1981, and before Rap became a worldwide thing.  And the rest of the album is like that, then, a mix of pop and rap, with beats and scratching, but also with tunes, and synths, and mostly accessible lyrics. It's not without it's rude word or two, and some sexual references, but it's a far cry from Gangsta Rap. To be honest, the closest comparison I can hear is the Spice Girls, although it predates them. It has the same kind of gutsy Girl Power attitude, charismatic and colourful and unapolagetic, but basically fun, and there is quite a lot of bits of laughing and giggling, all of which I find quite infectious. The songs are not deep, but not too clichéd either. The Next Generation, about love and parenthood is a little preachy but otherwise quite an interesting song. Outré Risqué Locomotive is definitely a bit outré and quite risqué, but nicely handled. 

I've used the word infectious, and that applies to the music too. There is a big side order of funk here in the beats and the approach, reminiscent of Prince at times. Definitely foot-tapping head-bopping and disco-worthy.

I really enjoyed it. I was surprised at how good the rest of the album was, after the hits. Sometimes the hit songs are the real stand-out quality tracks, but I would say most of the album is up to the same scratch. Pop can be good.

8/10

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/2AyJzvREOnlnYhaBzF1Kxp

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raw_Like_Sushi