Customer Reviews

Raw Like Sushi

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Neneh Cherry,the beautiful,funky Afro-Swede chick whose the stepdaughter of free jazz pioneer Don Cherry and stepsister of folk-rocker Eagle Eye Cherry stepped out on the scene in 1989 with this brillant(and underrated) debut,"Raw Like Sushi".

Neneh was very influential.Sassy,streetwise,and cultured,"Sushi"
didn't fit neatly in a catergory.Free sprited and independent,Neneh also paved the way for Missy Elliot,Nelly Furtado,Lauryn Hill,TLC,and many others with her multi-facted blend of hip hop sprit,sexy aura,and blunt,womanly lyrics.I wouldn't argue to call her groundbreaking.

"Sushi"'s ten tracks all have punch and all are surprisingly aduquate.Altough this album was released thirteen years ago,it strangly doesn't so dated.In fact,it sounds even more relavant.
From the classic "Buffalo Stance" to the haunting gem "Manchild"
(which predates the advent of trip hop)to the sassy midtempo hit
"Kisses On The Wind" to the brazen "The Next Generation",there's no weak spots on here.

Neneh actually brought some merucial promise to the then-sterile state of contempary Black music in the late '80s.And with her model good looks(frankly,the girl was FINE!),bohemian style,and street sass,Neneh actually joined the ranks of Lisa Bonet,Cree Summer,Veronica Webb,and other fellow free sprited beauties.To put it short,Ms. Cherry had it going on!

Neneh would go on to release two more even-more adventrous albums after "Raw Like Sushi":1992's "Homebrew" and 1996's more trip-hop leaning "Man" but "Raw Like Sushi" will always stand as a precedent in music-even if many don't remember her.

RAW LIKE SUSHI is the early 1990's debut album of English singer/rapper Neneh Cherry (incidentally, Neneh is the step-daughter of Jazz artist Don Cherry, and the sister of Eagle-Eye Cherry who found success recently with the hit single "Save Tonight"). She was a mix between Queen Latifah and Madonna, and her hit single "Buffalo Stance" (a song about hussling) had become a major international radio hit. It was certainly ahead of its time because it incorporated what today is almost formula: a rap verse with a singing chorus. What is remarkable is that Neneh Cherry performed both functions. Most songs that follow this formula are collaborations, assigning one talent to each genre.

Buffalo Stance is without a doubt the best song on RAW LIKE SUSHI, but there are many other gems as well. Kisses on the Wind is a fun song about the girl in the neighborhood who matured faster than everyone else, "the first girl to turn the boys on." Inner City Momma, Love Ghetto, and Phoney Ladies, are also great songs.

This was an incredibly promising debut that seemed to hint at a future superstar. I'm not sure what went wrong. What has happened to Neneh Cherry? Why isn't she still on the radio? I don't know. But I *do* know that RAW LIKE SUSHI is a great CD that anyone who likes strong women will enjoy.

This debut of hers may not be as impressive now, but in 1988 it was ahead of its time, and great on many levels. "Raw Like Sushi" also covers as many genres as it does topics. I still have the cassingle of "Buffalo Stance", and that song remains the best thing on here. However "Manchild" and "Kisses On The Wind" are catchy too. In fact, the album starts out very strong, then becomes too similar in the second half. But overall it's a good listen from this "Inna City Momma".

...highly original and visionary. "ManChild" was my favorite, but the entire CD had it going on. Where are ya, Neneh?

Possibly one of the best dance singles of the 80's was Buffalo Stance. Put with the other selections like Manchild provides some listening you will never get tired of. Future selections just dont match the raw edge of this CD. Neneh was and still is miles ahead of her time.

Considered one of the finest female talents to emerge from the U.K (with as much social awareness as today's Ms Dynamite),Neneh was a urban role model of sorts, during the late 80's and her rhetoric was one of social Urban issues, which confronted both men & women by imploring, men to respect women & take responsibility for their sexual actions (and any offspring as a result of their sexual encounters), and for women, to recognise their importance within their community & not remain gullible personalities for men to take advantage of. A suitably tough stance of all issues granted a generation of disaffected listeners, (although the music was so dance orientated, that It was easy to forget the underlining message), and so having influenced many with her commendable insight, it fall's to Ms Dynamite to continue what Neneh first started.

Neneh Cherry came out strong on this debut.Buffalo Stance was the jam.she had her own style from the get up.she deserves more respect than she has gotten.her music and style sounded like no other then or now.

Music has always had one premise to me: Women sing to the men and men sing to the women. Guys these day have that so confused. It's the same aesthetic with music videos (Beyonce and J-Lo shake their rumps to the benefit of us guys, much to the chagrin of our lady friends).

After getting over my crushes with Debbie Harry and Whitney Houston and my mental menage with Gioia, Jenette and Ann from Expose, in walks my new baby mama: a prego from the UK, dancing a jig in Spandex tights.

Neneh stood out to me because all of her songs were a step ahead of everything her American counterparts did at the time. I only saw Queen Latifah and MC Lyte's music videos, so maybe I'm making an unfair assumption, but their music did nothing for me. I had to look beyond Neneh's music video's and get a better perspective of her music by actually listening to Raw Like Sushi. Beyond Buffalo Stance, all the other songs made me view Neneh as more of a Goddess as opposed to a sex object, a respected person whereas today everyone markets themselves as mastubatory icons or heroines to disenfranchised teenagers.I just recently ordered Raw becaused I wanted to reconnect myself with Neneh's music because she was the most strongest crush I've had throughout my life. Beside Buffalo Stance, the other songs that move me are as follows: So Here I Come, Heart, Phoney Ladies, Love Ghetto, Inner City Mama. It would be so cool if all American female singers could be this deep.

I purchased this CD as an upgrade from the cassette I've owned since 1990. The songs withstand the test of time and sound as good as any pop/hip-hop songs that are now ont he radio.
I recentlly saw Buffalo Stance on a VH1 one hit wonders special so I decided to buy the CD and I was not disappointed. That might have been here biggest hit but "Manchild" and "Kises ont he Wind" got radio airplay at the time. Regardless, the whole album is great.
PS: Just because someone is a "one-hit wonder" doesn't mean that they didn't put out a great album. Edie Brickell and New Bohemians- "Shootin Rubberbands at the Stars" and Jaon Osbournes' "Relish" are two example off the top of my head of albums I love by OHWs.

Is my taste in music really this bad?

I got the impression that I would be gettin' somethin' upbeat and funky fresh, Like Technotronic, Salt n'Pepa, or Monie Love with some pop vocals goin' on.

"Buffalo Stance" can throw someone off by miles.

This album is unbelievably boring, I really thought her album would be radical and more entertaining.

The only songs that caught my attention are "Kisses On The Wind", "Man Child" and of course "Buffalo Stance".

Where's the dance?, Where's the beats?, Where's that 80's hip hop that sounds like dangling keys and keychains on a key ring?

In "Buffalo Stance" we heard chimes, tambourines, bongos and synthesizers. What happend, Where's all those instruments and groove that we got in the single? I even heard the dinner bell a few times!

I thought she had more spunk than this. Her rapping in the rest of the songs are wack, I thought I was going to want to learn a few verses and raps on this album. NOT!

When I purchased this album I really believed It had more of the late 80's early 90's pop meets Hiphop party sound to it. Bland , Bland, Bland.

I would've given it a star for each song, but 3 stars would be too misleading.