Raw Like Sushi
Neneh Cherry
1989
Album Summary
Raw Like Sushi is the debut studio album by Swedish musician Neneh Cherry, released 5 June 1989 by Virgin Records. The album includes the commercially successful single "Buffalo Stance". Raw Like Sushi is distinctive for its eclectic mix of genres, incorporating influences from across the trends of 1980s pop music. Cherry sings and raps accompanied by a diverse set of sounds, including pianos, synthesizers, brass instruments, guitars, and go-go percussion. The album's lyrical themes are influenced by Cherry's experiences of motherhood, and her education and upbringing. When it was released, the album was favorably compared to Madonna and Prince, though it did not reach similar popularity.
WikipediaNeneh Cherry should have been HUGE. Buffalo Stance was, and is, huge because Buffalo Stance is a 5. Nenah was ahead of her time because damn does album still have it all. To paraphrase a lyric from "Love Ghetto", she hit a home run. Actual rating is a 4.5. All of the songs are good, they all just pale in comparison to the magic of Buffalo Stance.
this is the most 1989 album ever recorded. four Danger Zone bass patches out of five
Oh! This album was on heavy rotation when I was a teenager. I always loved the attitude and the swagger. And I realise now that this album influenced so many of my future explorations in music (soul, jazz, hip hop). I don’t think anyone else was making music like this and the album was a wrecking ball to the charts - all those ballads and Kylie, Stock, Aitken and Waterman. She sang about subjects nobody else was - feminism, safe sex, motherhood - not a bunch of lovey dove nonsense. I really think Neneh Cherry is a hugely inspirational and influential figure - sassy, London/ European / American, kick ass, feeling, mixed heritage and proud - a great singer and classy rapper. Incredibly talented and underrated. I hesitated when rating the album - if I give this album five stars, am I really saying this album is up there with the White Album or Hunky Dory? You know what? I don’t know. And I don’t care. This is five stars for me. I love this album.
My immediate reaction was to file this under the most 80s pop ass 80s pop ever, but despite its pervasive radio-friendliness, it really belongs in its own niche nestled somewhere between Salt-N-Pepa and Massive Attack. There are moments where the lyricism feels as of its time as the delightfully dated synths, but Cherry comes across emphatically on the microphone be it rapping or singing, exuding a confidence that most MCs would kill to have. My only real knock against it is the thematic redundancy that stands out listening to these songs back-to-back: there's a three-track stretch after the opening singles that all tread in the same youth/parenthood waters, and it probably would have been better off spread out a bit more. Key Tracks: Buffalo Stance, Manchild, Outré Risqué Locomotive
Some of the song material is very specific. For example, not sure how I feel about the procreation anthem of "The Future Generation". Still, it's got great energy and Neneh shows she can hold her own lyrically. Does sound pretty dated though (I can pinpoint what year this was made, same with "Pretty Hate Machine"). Favorite tracks: "Buffalo Stance", "Inna City Mama"
Great album, confident and fresh and smart, making it OK to like hip hop when you are a metaller
Started strong with a nice bop. Not a fan of the middle part of manchild. Surprised by how much I liked phoney ladies. I actually liked a lot of this album. Pleasant surprise. 4/5 I listened a second time, it gets up to a cool 5 because I felt good about it. I'm still thinking about this album the next morning. Wow
Absolutely slaps. Love this era and genre. Buffalo Stance is definitely the standout.
Damn what a trailblazer. Watched her Buffalo Stance performance she did on Top of the Pops while pregnant, what a badass.
English accents, string ballads, dj cuts, man children, questionable social commentary, raw sushi, talking spanish, prepubescent sexual tension, slutty locomotives, mixed metaphors, incoherent writing structure, what does getting shirty mean? The nonsensical nature of the writing kind of makes sense considering she's Swedish. Can't deny it's an interesting thing to listen to.
Great album. Whatever happened to her? Shame two tracks were withheld.
1/28 Great, eclectic 80s genre-mix of an album. Standout Tracks: Buffalo Stance, Inna City Momma, The Next Generation, Phoney Ladies, Outré Risqué Locomotive
Cool late 80s vibes. Hear a lot of things that would shape early 90s hip hop. Definitely her own style. Should come back to this one
pretty iconic 80s dance music, some songs were a bit dragged out and didn’t have a great sound listening 40 years later, but a really clean classic funky hip hop sound that makes ya wanna dance ;)
this album was surprisingly good! lot of catchy songs, and the beats had me moving through the entire album
Un disco muy chill, fluye bien, me gustaron mucho algunos beats, sus sintetizadores. Me dio toda una vibra janetjacksonesca e incluso, ya hacia el final, en el Sukka mix de "Buffalo Stance" se oye algo como "Does this sound like Janet Jackson?". Diría que este es un álbum que sí se quedó mucho en vibras ochenteras, pero no lo escucho anticuado. Es hip-hop poposo, con algunas salpicadas de crítica social, "Buffalo Stance" es una muy buena canción, también "The Next Generation" y "So Here I Come" me gustaron; he de aceptar que me dio un poco de risa el español en "Kisses On the Wind". 8/10
Again, it was good but songs were long and the album didn’t really feel like it needed to be an album. 7
Another 7 where I considered an 8, but I just can't see myself ever wanting to relisten to this even though it was pretty fun the first time.
Pop, rap, freestyle, funk, destellos de house, breakbeat. Pensaba que iba a estar ya muy passé la producción, pero incluso en los momentos más aywey tiene mucho charm. Grande por lo que representó, pero también grande porque tiene buenas rolas.
in a normal situation, I don't know if I would have enjoyed it as much, but I was vibing this shiiiit
Fun album. It sounds exactly how I think 80s-90s transition should have sounded like.
Sounds great, my kind of thing. I didn’t know how varied her music is, and different from the radio hits Manchild, Woman and 7 Seconds.
Buffalo stance...wow so good. Such a fun vibe, this chick can rap and her confidence oozes.
Love this album. Eminently danceable. And thought provoking. This album got me through that summer. 4.5.
Disc d'estrena d'alta volada, començant amb 'Buffalo Stance' i 'Manchild', les dues millors cançons del disc i del millor de l'r&b de finals dels 80. També destaquen 'Inna City Mamma', 'Love Ghetto' o 'Phoney Ladies', però sobretot l'actitud i personalitat de Neneh Cherry, que ja no va poder igualar aquesta fita (fins al 2021 com a mínim), però aquí la seva estrella brilla amb molta força
This is kind of like a female inversion of Beastie Boys MCing, in the best possible way. This was a lot of fun to listen to, provocative and tongue in cheek the whole way through
Salt 'N Pepa meets Prince?! Hell yeah. The sound is definitely of it's time, but we all need some cheesy hip hop in our lives! My top pick is of course 'Buffalo Stance' but I also really liked 'Manchild', 'Love Ghetto'. and 'Outré Risqué Locomotive'. This is more of a 4.5 - I think a 10 star scale would be better!
What's 'e like? WHAT IS 'E LIKE? Buffalo Stance is a six (all hail Bomb The Bass), the rest is a three-star pottage of late '80s production tics, and none the worse for it.
Lekker album! Heerlijke popmuziek, goede zang, vrolijke muziek. Precies zoals ik 80s popmuziek voor ogen heb. Geweldig!! ****
Funky and catchy. Absolutely not a genre for me, but this album somehow won me over - so a 4/5 from me is probably a strong 5/5 for somebody who's generally a fan of hip hop. Heart's my favorite track because it sounds like a Phineas and Ferb song.
Swedish punk? Who knew? Very talented with a cool mix of rapping and singing, she’s tackling some big issues but also showing a good sense of humour. I didn’t know she was so involved with Massive Attack and the Wild Bunch. A little bit drawn out and dated for top marks though.
I really enjoyed this record! It sits within this liminal space between hip hop, R & B, and dance while also feeling like the perfect decade-spanning record. There's a few misfires, but overall, the vibe was something I could get behind. "Buffalo Stance" has not been far from my mind since my first listen! Favourite tracks: Buffalo Stance, Love Ghetto, Phoney Ladies, So Here I Come
3rd Listen. Great album. Brings back a lot of memories of the times. :) 4/5
This one caught me by surprise. I loved the '80s pop that slipped into the hip-hop. The songs were catchy as hell.
Un autre album qui ne m'inspirait pas au départ et qui s'est avéré une expérience fort agréable. Quand naturellement tu as envie de remettre l'album, il y a quelque chose là. Je ne dis pas que tout est vraiment bon sur l'album, mais le côté hip-hop old school est pas mal ce que je préfère dans ce disque et il y a tout de même des éléments mélodiques très forts. J'aime beaucoup le fait d'avoir un album hip-hop d'une femme de cette époque. Je trouve également intéressant d'entendre cet album qui met en contexte les débuts de Massive Attack. La pièce Manchild co-écrite avec Robert Del Naja a vraiment la vibe Massive Attack. Pièces préférées: Buffalo Stance, Manchild, The Next Generation, Heart et So Here I Come
A pretty fun album, including some huskier wails. I’m sure I recognised the first track from when I was very young
A pretty slammin early hip hop album! I enjoyed it from top to bottom, although Buffalo Stance is hands down the best track. Feels like a bit of a misnomer to call her "Swedish" when she was raised in the US and has spent her entire adult life in London, but that's on wikipedia and not 1001 albums.
Had a couple of late 80s albums this week taking me back to my youth. But really striking how contemporary they sound these days, ten maybe 15 years ago this would sound as dated as hell but not now, aside from the odd scratch noise. This sound is everywhere in modern music. All time bangers front and centre, it's a blast at the beginning. I drift off halfway through as nothing can compete with the absolute classic singles particularly, but it's still a great, fun, pop album.
Never have heard of this, but I kinda love this... Sounded like a better version of one of the many Prince proteges from the 80s.
I am a big fan of this release. I knew of Neneh Cherry through Rip, Rig & Panic. It took me forever to find the RR&P release back in the day. The disparate elements she integrated was nor commonplace at the time. Nor was the focus on womanhood. At a time when there were clearly drawn lines between pop and what would become hip-hop, Neneh Cherry blurred the lines in the best possible way.
Really enjoyed it. Wasn’t expecting a vibrant synth pop based album and it delivered!
Great lyricism in this album and it was clear to the listener what her messages were. Loved her vibe!
This was a fun album. Not my usual genre but I really liked the feel of the album and was entertained the whole way through.
Thought it was a'right at the time. In retrospect, I enjoyed the singles and began considering it a classic. On actual listening it's got some great tracks but doesn't consistently hit every ball out the park I like the originality it shows.
10/10 navn på album Dette vokste på meg, fra masse plagsomme lyder til å bli en bop
Solidly good album, she's got a great voice and the grooves are excellent. 4 stars.
Buffalo stance is one of my all time jams. You can’t help but move when that song comes on!!
liked and still like whole album, smart version of bubblepop, produced well and e.g. Manchild and Buffalo Stance and Next Generation as strong as when released. She was part of underrated Rip Rig+Panic, bit less smooth.
Stranger song is such a good track. I do like Leonard Cohen, been a while since i heard this. Knocking it down to a 4 though because it gave the animal house vibes when Belushi smashes that fellas guitar.
Had no clue what to expect with this one. Very 90s angsty rap feel. A couple songs I liked the vibe of, but not something I'd listen to regularly.
Decently fun album with a wide range of styles and instrumentation. 5/10, probably sounded more modern on release than it does today.
No lo sé, Rick. El sonido característico de los 90s me gusta, está cool, pero también, como diría Maria, es como estar escuchando una hora de lo mismo. Canción favorita: Love Ghetto. Mood: early Will Smith vibes
No conocía a Neneh Cherry, la verdad, pero pues tiene un sonido muy ochentero en la línea de lo que hicieron Janet Jackson y Paula Abdul. Me entretuvo pero no agregué ninguna canción a mi playlist personal
Not easily classifiable as a whole, Raw Like Sushi is one of the most soulful and "hip-hop" albums considered neither R&B nor rap.
'Chocolates, bananas, doughnuts and salami Ain't gonna fit cause you're full of bologna' Extremely tame lyrics on this album. Fun enough to listen to but man, the lyrics / style haven't aged particularly well haha
Surprisingly enjoyed it. Not a 4 because I wouldn’t really listen to it again, buts it’s still good
Not bad. Few tracks I’d go back to which is more than can be said about others on the list. I don’t think it’s aged particularly well. Feels very ‘early 90s’.