Raw Like Sushi

Raw Like Sushi Buffalo Stance is still an absolute banger, pulling together rap, electroclash, sampling and welding them to a superb chorus to make an absolute classic. And it’s followed by another classic in Manchild, the unconventional, auto-chord changes in the chorus are superb, particularly the transition from the first rap section. I was not aware that 3D from Massive Attack co-wrote Man Child, or more specifically wrote the rap, but the call out to The Wild Bunch in Buffalo Stance makes sense. Those two tracks do front load the album, but there’s plenty of great stuff to enjoy elsewhere, if not, of course at the same level as Buffalo Stance and Manchild. Generally ranging from things like Kisses on the Wind is great, with it’s latin tinge giving it a dapple of New York and a great poppy chorus, Love Ghetto, Heart with similarly catchy hooks to more sequencer based rap focused tracks like the excellent So Here I Come, and with more overtly straightforward tracks like Phoney Ladies Although it is clearly a late 80s album in sound and rapping style, it doesn't (and shouldn’t) diminish it as a smart and charismatic pop-hip-hop-dance hybrid, making full use of her ability to switch from singing to rapping, and her atypical lyrical themes (although I’m not sure about the shaming in Inna City Mama). I think you can also hear her punk and soul roots, in the DIY sense of it, put also in punk’s outsider kinship with Hip-Hop. I thoroughly enjoyed this. Even if it does struggle to match its fabulous opening two songs it's still a 4 for me. 🍣🍣🍣🍣 Playlist submission: Buffalo Stance

There's nothing terribly wrong with this as such. I mean, it couldn't sound more dated if it tried, and that date had already expired by 1989. The rapping isn't very good, and when she trots out that cod New Yoik accent it's a little painful. Then there are loads of more standard pop, which again, isn't bad but didn't offer me anything, and that bright, 80s chintz is actually hard on the ears. It's a 2.5, it doesn't offend but it's not very good either. I was done with it long before the half way mark. I'm not sure why it's on this list. She was very good looking, I'm guessing the compiler had a poster of Neneh on his childhood bedroom wall.

Buffalo Stance still slaps, but the rest is a little same-y

Just ok

If the 80s ever had a typical sound it's this stale bubblegum pop.

I was not a fan pretty quickly in

It was meh.

The beauty of this list is that you learn about so much music you didn’t know you never needed - 2,5

A bit mind numbing to be honest but it's mid really

I don’t think there’s been a more dated sounding album on this list so far. Contrast this with something like Abbey Road, which sounds like it could be released tomorrow and generate hits. This list contains multitudes, I guess.

Ok so this is what my mom has been referencing all these years when she says "wHaT's hE LiKeEeEe??" in a faux British accent

That was fun :) And easy to listen to :) But too long :(

Idk why I just couldn't get through this

Just felt really incomplete as an album, very nothing-y with some very average raps. Raw may be an apt name for it

Not really my thing, and I'm not sure why I enjoyed it so much, but I did and I'll listen again.

Still not a rap fan

I guess you had to be there, I wasn't!

Fun album

Very 80s pop, not for me

Hadn't heard any Neneh Cherry other than Buffalo Stance, so good to get a chance to listen to something new. Particularly liked Manchild and So Here I Come, both quite catchy. But not a favourite.

I don't have much to say that hasn't already been said: 'Buffalo Stance' is a good track but the album quickly tails off into mediocre and dated hip-hop. By the time we get to the Sukka remix of 'Buffalo Stance' we really are scraping the barrel.

This genre of music somehow sounds more dated than most, but Buffalo Stance is a banger. There were a few other decent songs, but it started to all sound the same toward the end.

simple, boring and noisy

Har kanske inte åldrats så väl. Har dessutom alltid tyckt bättre om henne som sångerska och här är det mycket rap. En trea

not quite my construction site. but funny to learn she is singing on Kids With Guns / Gorillaz

Aikalailla alkuaikojen Madonnaa tässä on.

What a product of its time, but its a pretty good product. Its just sounds fun. I know it has a point and a pretty damn good on at that, hard to miss it, but in a soundscape sense it has a good time. It sounds exactly like the end of the 80s and beginning od the 90s. Also I have to give her props for being a female rapper at this time, again with the pointed lyrics. Brave thing to do at the time of the beginning of the gangsta rap era. I just like it. Thats about all. The first track is the best but nothing beyond that is bad at all. Just good poignant and fun sounding. Cant really ask for much more

Not really my cup of tea, but very strong front to back as an album, I couldn't tell which songs were singles and which were just album tracks so I guess that's why it's here. Lyrics were decent too

Les vibes sont trop cool, j'ai vraiment bien aimé ça groove comme il faut et les prods sont originales (dans les limites de l'époque ^^). L'intro est géniale

Sympa sans fulgurances

Lots of people have said this already, but it’s one of those albums where it doesn’t offend you and isn’t awful by any means, but it’s just too dated to make you feel something.

Standouts Inner City Mamma Love Ghetto So Here I Come

Why do I love this

Quite boring hip-hop pop music from the 90s (actually 1989, but still, same vibe)

It’s not totally for me but I can see why someone would enjoy this.

Rhyming ‘I won’t be your bitch’ with ‘feminine itch’? Inspired

One of Nina's favourite albums, I only kn know the single from drunken discos at the football club. Was never my thing, hearing it instantly transports me back to 89/90, and the smell of stale cigarettes, cider and regret. Listening ba k now it sounds a bit S/A/W. LNot that this necessarily bad, they gave us Rick Astley after all..... Ooh I know the second tune too. ...i think I like this more now than I did back then...Casio keyboard present a d all... Does anyone remember The Hitman and Her ? All day glo and Michaela... Travk 3....Whenever she sings "boys, boys" I'm expecting a 3rd "boys" .........mmmmm, Sabrina. Getting bored by track 5.. . I diont really like this, it comes from a time when actual musical instruments were considered old hat...now it just sounds dated and cheap... 2 stars...

Confession: I used really like Buffalo Stance and Manchild as a teenager, but I think that was mainly because I fancied Neneh Cherry. Both songs were underwhelming at best upon a fresh listen, and the rest of the album didn’t fare any better. Some of the supporting songs are poor ranging to terrible. The rapping sounds so amateurish when compared to later artists. Inna City Mama is probably the best of a bad bunch, but that’s not saying much. A paltry 2 from me, with a penalty reduction of 1 mark as my teenage memories have been permanently damaged as a result of this re-listen

Number: 297 Familiarity: None (1) Rating: 2 Before: ======= Never heard of and not expecting to like this much. The album cover image reminds me of Xenia Rubinos, who I like a lot, however she is sadly not on this list. During: ======= Yep, this sucks... 4 songs in now...well, maybe it's not that bad...ok, it's getting better, now at 7 and 8...oh, the last three are really bad... After : ======= OK, so pretty mixed. There was nothing I really liked a lot though I did give 3 songs a 4, but by the last 3 songs I was totally over it and gave them all a 3. Overall rating came out to 2.4.

Now that's what I call 80s!

Not bad, not my thing.

An interesting mix of 80s pop and hip hop. Kind of enjoyed the listen, but probably not something I'd visit again. Rating: 5/10 Favorite Song: Buffalo Stance

reminds me of that one scene in "teenage witch"

Top Album. Woman power. Richtige 80s beats.

Smooth and catchy music that is really easy to listen to. Something I wouldn't be surprised to hear often on the radio when it was released. Neneh has a great voice and the mix of slower and faster songs made listening through the album from start to finish really easy. Definitely some songs I will come back to.

nop, I cannot even comprehend how it can be at the same level as Madonna or Prince

energetic

5/10… new jack swing / 80s Dance / *1989

Like Soul 2 Soul, I had heard of this one mostly as being a footnote in the history of Massive Attack in that Cherry was one of their biggest supporters in the early stages, including helping fund the recording of Blue Lines. As such, Raw Like Sushi ends up being one of the last examples of the pre-trip hop wave. In Soul 2 Soul's case, that left it feeling dated, but here, it still manages to feel fresh and exciting.

Buffalo stance is a bamger. I don’t know if anything else was a single but some worthy candidates. Listened to the remixes too. A lot of fun. A low four bc the reality is that I’m unlikely to listen to the whole thing any time soon but I will certainly cherry pick some tracks.

Went way harder than I thought it was going to.

Hyvää mieltä, paras hippihoppi albumi tällä listalla imo.

kuuntelin tän tyyliin kolmessa osassa kun oli niin raivostuttava. ihan tosi huono. lol.

Tää ei lähteny mulla yhtään. En tykänny saundimaailmasta ja biisit oli omaan makuun enimmäkseen ärsyttäviä. Tuntuu oudolta antaa tälle eka ykkönen, mut jotenkin se tuntuu oikeimmalta just nyt. Vähän mietin kyllä että oliko tää todella huonompi kuin jotkut kakkoset mitä oon antanu, mut ehkäpä mä käyn vielä päivitteleen niitäkin jossain välissä.

Hetki meni miettiä että mistä niin tuttu, mutta sehän olikin toki Youssou N'Dourn 7 seconds! Muutenkin suurin anti oli valitettavasti mielenkiintoinen sukupuu (mm. että Eagle-Eye Cherry on Nenehin velipuoli) ja esim. osallisuus trip-hopin ja Massive Attackin syntytarinassa. Itse albumi pärähti käyntiin ihan jees, mutta kuihtui nopeasti haaleaksi ysäripoppi tuulahdukseksi. Propsit ruotsalaisesta hip-hop/rap pioneeriudesta Lontoosta käsin! Taas yksi albumi jossa albumiradion eka biisi ihan eri artistilta herätti takas musan pariin et "Hei täähän on kiinnostava biisi! ...Aaa"

Aikamoinen matka. :D Tavallaan hauska mut tosi outo ja kuulostaa kyllä hyvin vahvasti aikansa tuotteelta. Mistä tää on listalle tupsahtanut?

okei siis ainut tietämys neneh cherrystä on hänen featti gorillazin kids with gunsissa ja ryhmän reaktiosta säikähtäneenä odotin tätä ihan kammotuksella mutta siis XDXDXDX tää naurattaa mua niin paljon ja toi mulle niin paljon iloa, ihan typerää sekoilua aikansa raameissa, rakastan

Meh.da tanto pop michael jackson y despues rap. Nose raro

I bought this album years ago, but for some reason didn’t like it much at the time apart from the singles. But I was wrong, it’s great.

Such a dated sound and the rapping is painful. This new jack swing/late 80s r&b sound has aged poorly. I don’t really understand what about this album is essential listening. Has this influenced anything in music?

Olipas korkeintaan keskivertoa musiikkia

craptastic…!! it was radio crap back then as it is now… nothing redeeming.

Very of its time. Kinda fun tho.

Somehow this has never really been my thing. I do wonder if it were recorded today how it would sound.

Some albums are called timeless, like Abbey Road. This album is almost the exact opposite—it is firmly cemented in 1987–89. The production, the beats, and especially the rapping make it impossible to separate from that very specific moment in music. If she had just stuck to singing, this would probably be a 4 for me. I like her voice, I like a lot of the lyrics, and I like the in your face punchiness of some of the songs. But the late 80s rapping style is featured on most of the album, and while it probably sounded fresh at the time, today it dates the music more than anything else. There's a 4 star album buried in here for me, but I can't quite get past how much of it sounds like a time capsule. 3 good stars

Hells to the yes. This album has on it the first record I ever bought. A trip to Woolworths with my mum to spend my pocket money. I was 6 years old. I wanted Buffalo Stance but bought Kisses on the Wind and that’s fine. Mum took me again the next Saturday. I still have those records today (37 years later). Absolutely delighted to listen to this today. She’s a legend and this just sounds so fresh.

It's mostly really really boring. Slow, sleep-inducing, no climax. Some rap parts are kind of cool though.

So 80s it hurts, and not in the fun way. In the cringe, oh-god-this-is-unbelievably-lame way. Lyrics are laughable, and the album feels more like a parody of this era of R&B and rap than a true representation of it. I will not be listening to this album again any time soon.

I enjoyed this as a blast from the past! My girlfriend at the time was a Neneh Cherry NUT!! As a result, I have some pretty awesome memories to this album!

This has a few good elements, but ultimately feels cheesy and dated with the production. I have a bit of a soft spot for early to mid 90s hiphop/dance, this feels like its heading in that direction, but I didn't end up really getting into it.

3★/5 10.03.2026

Hey! It's Eagle-Eye Cherry's sister! So synthetically cheezy. That Z is there for a reason. It's that cheezy. Only thing that saves it, is it's fun. Interesting lyrics but so insanely dated. 2

4/5 just for Buffalo Stance

Reeks of the 80s. First few songs are good then it tails off significantly.

This was a “fine” album to me. Some songs I really liked, some I thought were bad, and most were fine. This is not really my genre so I enjoyed the foray. Favs Kisses on the wind Inna city mama Heart

*Agressively* 80's and agressively mid, in the true sense of the word (not the 'mid = bad' way). While there are better hip-hop albums and better R&B albums than this one, I can appreciate Raw Like Sushi's inclusion on the list. The influences moving forwards and backwards are well felt. A lot of that boom-bap production you hear on Rakim produced albums (I'm thinking specifically of Paid in Full when Nenah goes to her more rap-centric tracks) is prominent throughout. I'm hearing a fair amount of Salt N Pepa influence as well. The use of loops, synths, and samples is pretty heavy-handed, but there's enough variety in the genres that Neneh touches to keep it fun enough. Fun sidenote: I can draw a direct line from Kisses On The Wind to Bop To The Top from High School Musical. Inspiration strikes from the strangest places sometimes. Lyrically, a mixed bag. The overall impression I left with was that this was a very poppy album content-wise. Some of the songs got pointedly specific sometimes, especially the 'wrap it before you tap it' sentiments in The Next Generation, but you got some moments of honesty in Inna City Mamma and Love Ghetto as well. Confident delivery, if a little clunky flow-wise by today's standards, but we can attribute that to the infancy of the genre. Rap hadn't had a chance to evolve past the more basic rhyme schemes yet. This is an album that you strip for parts and repurpose them into something better. I respect it. 5/10 Favorites: - Buffalo Stance (kind of an earworm) - Inna City Mamma - The Next Generation (anachronistic today but funny nonetheless) - Outre Risque Locomotive

After so much rock it was refreshing to have a change up. Buffalo Stance is a fantastic track to get things started. Neneh’s flow is quite good and rhyme scheme complements it well even if it’s somewhat elementary, but it’s 80s hip-hop so that’s expected. The next few tracks touch on different subjects that feel a bit more personal in the three track run of Inna City - Love Ghetto where Neneh talks about the cruel reality of the inner city. The Next Generation is a creative take on the squalid aspects of giving birth and taking care of children. In these tracks the production does its job fairly well mixing boom bap with various different styles and sounds. From the airy synths, bubbly keyboard riff and vinyl scratches in Buffalo Stance, NYC blues in Inna City Mamma, scratched jazz and Apache drums in The Next Generation, and the smooth synth pop in Love Ghetto. The album hits a lull after Heart and stays in that rut up until the end until we get a fun sassy rap face off to end the album in the song Bitch. Overall sounds very 80s especially for a hip hop album. Fun at points, leaves something to be desired in others. Neneh doesn’t hit a home run but it’s a solid double. Favorites: - Buffalo Stance - Inna City Mamma - Heart - Bitch Rating: 6/10

Dated but fun

You know what? This was a bop. It was a mess, it has all sorts of problems - it's all over the place at times, it's a bit samey, some of the spoken word/rap bits are a bit embarrassing/corny - but it has some massive 80s choruses. And I love some of the production. Some of it sounds a lot like Michael Jackson. I had no idea what to expect, I thought this would be quieter and more soulful. The first half was the best, and some of the second half really dragged (especially Outré Risqué Locomotive). I think I've convinced myself this is a high 3 not a low 4 though. But there's definitely songs on here I'd come back to (if not the album itself).

i was listening to this in the gym, so at first i thought that ah well, at least this has a good beat. by song 6 i was kind of done with this. i don’t think i dislike it quite enough to give it a 1, but its a near thing.

This was a bit disappointing. I know buffalo stance but hasn't listened that closely, but it is brilliant, the rhythms are great, the vocals are alright, the rhythms of the vocals are pretty great, but the real magic is in the synth riffs that drop in and all mix into each other creating a glorious shiny electronic backdrop. There is a rising riff in particular that I really enjoyed. Then the rest of the album happened and it had the rhythms, but they got a bit samey after a few tracks, and the vocals were sometimes good, sometimes pretty corny, but alright... But the synths weren't there. Other instruments were there in bits, but none had the impact those shiny synths had so it was all pretty disappointing, but I didn't hate it all, so it's a fairly mid 3.

I don’t remember her and I’m not a fan of this genre, but I liked her energy and she seems to do this music as well as others at the time. 2.5 stars.

This is bad. I remember making fun of Buffalo Stance when the song was released in the late 80’s and it has not aged well. I’m truly not sure why this album was released and I’m even less sure why it is a part of this 1001 album project.

This is not something we needed to be subjected to. She would not have been signed without the famous last name. Listening to the album is like eating at a buffet restaurant - most things seem fine and even look good at first glance but nothing is actually tasty enough to go back for a second helping.

This is really bad 80s R&B. So bad that it shouldn't even be referred to as R&B. I will instead refer to it as New Jack Swing. That sounds like a crap genre, and this is a crap album. But as bad as this album is, and as bad as the song Buffalo Stance is...after 37 years I needed to know....what the hell is a Buffalo Stance??? Meaning of the Stance • The Physical Pose: Visually, a buffalo stance means standing with your arms tightly crossed and giving a sideways, defiant look (a pose often seen in early hip-hop culture and popularized by groups like Run-DMC). • The Attitude: Neneh Cherry explained to The New York Times that it is "an attitude you have to have in order to get by." It represents female strength, street smarts, and sexual self-defense against insincere people or "gigolos" trying to flash cash. I regret learning this, and my apologies for sharing.

Much of the hip hop from this time just feels so dated. This one isn’t an exception. Buffalo Stance is still catchy.

Manchild and Buffalo Stance are classics and I’m a sucker for a bit of scratching, but too much of this album sounds like generic late 80s pop. There are far too many synth beats for my liking. Better in the memory than in actuality

Out of the two songs I knew on this album, “Buffalo Stance” is brilliant; “Manchild”, not so much. And then the rest of the album is an array of incredibly 80s sounding songs that have not aged well, either in terms of their sound or, in some places, their lyrics. Some were rather catchy, some not so much, but all of them had more synths than even I knew what to do with. I feel I should hate it more than I do, though…

I can pinpoint the exact moment this album lost me. It was during The Next Generation (which was awful) when she said "And you wonder right if they've forgotten or if they just can't remember that they ever were small one time". That's the same thing, Neneh. I was going to excuse you, as I didn't think you wrote the lyrics. But you did, so I'm holding you responsible. Other than Buffalo Stance and Manchild, I have no nostalgia attached to these songs, which means there's nothing much to balance out the 80sness of the instrumental and the, in places, absolutely dreadful lyrics (for example, from Heart: "I thought you were my friend, God, you're just so digital girl, You're like one of those cabbage patch creatures"). There are a few of songs I didn't mind, so this escapes the dreaded 1 star, but this really, really wasn't for me. 2/5

Generic pop

Not my music. Other than Manchild not much else worthwhile. I did listen till the end. They say it's good for your cognitive functioning to listen to a wide variety of music. 1001 Albums must be terrific then.

Nope, I don't like this one. way too long and honestly don't love the style. kind of like a knock off of Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2.

Even if I was a girl in the late 80s… I still don’t think I would have liked it. 1.4

Definitely not good, but more fun than I expected. Certainly “of a time.” The bigger problem is the length. 67 minutes is too long for this kind of album. It suffers from the same problem as the Britney Spears album. 4/10 Acceptable

Imma do the buffalo stance. Nah but after buffalo stance the rest of the album was underwhelming so to say.

Fifa music

I don't know, this was alright. It's no surprise to anyone that I'm not a fan of the 80s schtick, which this is rich with -- but beyond that, I just feel like there isn't much personality, or unique voice here. It feels to generic to me. It probably felt generic then too. But now it feels dated as well. Honestly I didn't hate this, just not a great listen. Fave tracks: - Buffalo Stance - Manchild - The Next Generation - Outré Risqué Locomotive - So Here I Come

It was just fine.

If I were a teenage girl living in 1989, I might really like this album. But I’m not. Y’ know what I mean?

When I read Robert Del Naja co-wrote "Manchild" I thought, "Oh, that makes sense." Very cool chord progression and melody. Buffalo Stance is a banger.