Neneh Cherry

by Jason AnkenyThe stepdaughter of jazz trailblazer Don Cherry, vocalist Neneh Cherry forged her own groundbreaking blend of pop, dance, and hip-hop which presaged the emergence of both alternative rap and trip-hop. She was born Neneh Mariann Karlssson on March 10, 1964, in Stockholm, Sweden, the daughter of West African percussionist Amadu Jah and artist Moki Cherry. Raised by her mother and her trumpeter stepfather in both Stockholm and New York City, Cherry dropped out of school at age 14, and in 1980 she relocated to London to sing with the punk group the Cherries. Following brief flings with the Slits and the Nails, she joined the experimental funk outfit Rip Rig + Panic, and appeared on the groups albums God (1981), I Am Cold (1982), and Attitude (1983). When the band broke up, Cherry remained with one of the spin-off groups, Float Up CP, and led them through one album, 1986s Kill Me in the Morning. The band proved short-lived, however, and Cherry began rapping in a London club, where she earned the attention of a talent scout who signed her to a solo contract. Her first single, Stop the War, railed against the invasion of the Falkland Islands.After attracting some notice singing backup on the Thes Slow Train to Dawn single, she became romantically and professionally involved with composer and musician Cameron McVey, who, under the alias Booga Bear, wrote much of the material that would comprise Cherrys 1989 debut LP Raw Like Sushi. One song McVey did not write was Buffalo Stance, the albums breakthrough single; originally tossed off as a B-side by the mid-80s pop group Morgan McVey, Cherrys cover was an international smash which neatly summarized the albums eclectic fusion of pop smarts and hip-hop energy.A pair of hits — the eerie Manchild and Kisses on the Wind — followed, but shortly after the records release Cherry was sidelined with Lyme disease, and apart from a cover of Cole Porters Ive Got You Under My Skin for the 1990 Red Hot + Blue benefit album, she remained silent until 1992s Homebrew. A more subdued collection than Raw Like Sushi, it featured cameos from Gang Starr and R.E.M.s Michael Stipe; as well as writing and production assistance from Geoff Barrow, who layered the track Somedays with the same distinct trip-hop glaze he later perfected as half of the duo Portishead. While the album was not as commercially successful as its predecessor, Cherry returned to the charts in 1994 duetting with Youssou NDour on the global hit Seven Seconds. After another lengthy layoff spent raising her children, she resurfaced with the atmospheric Man in 1996.