Raw Like Sushi [30th Anniversary Edition]

Personnel: Neneh Cherry (vocals); Mushroom, Tim Simenon (DJ); Eagle-Eye Cherry (MC); Jeffrey L. Scantelbury (congas); Booga Bear, Wil Malone, Phil Chill (programming, background vocals); Alvin Moody, Mark Saunders, John Sharpe, The Dynamik Duo, Nick Plytas (programming); Claudia Fontain, Sarah Erde, Gordon Dukes, Chandra Armstead, Jock, Sandy McLelland (background vocals).
Although the Swedish-born Nenah Cherry-daughter of jazz trumpeter Don, older sister of singer/songwriter Eagle Eye-had spent the early '80s as the singer in the UK avant-jazz-funk outfit Rip Rig and Panic and its offshoot Float Up CP, almost nobody had heard of her in the US before this 1988 solo debut. This made the album's impact all the more impressive, as the powerful mix of hip-hop, jazz and pop seemed to come out of nowhere. The inescapable hit "Buffalo Stance," built on samples from Malcolm McLaren's "Buffalo Gals," a solid bass groove and Cherry's tough-girl vocals, is one of the finest pop singles of the late '80s. The rest of the album ranges from the dreamy "Kisses on the Wind" to hard-edged funk. RAW LIKE SUSHI foreshadows the polyglot influences of Soul II Soul and, later, Massive Attack.