“When a child is born into this world, he has no concept of his skin tone,” sings Neneh Cherry in “7 Seconds.” The duet with the Senegalese musician Youssou N’Dour, recorded in 1994 and combining world music and trip-hop, was a hit. Cherry learned firsthand that skin color can play a role later in life. Racism, sexism and exclusion of minorities are themes that run through her song lyrics. The singer turns 60 on March 10th.
Neneh Cherry was born in Stockholm in 1964, the daughter of a Swedish artist and a musician from Sierra Leone. A few years later, her mother Moki married the African-American jazz musician Don Cherry. Cherry’s half-brother, the musician Eagle-Eye Cherry (55, “Save Tonight”), comes from this marriage.
The family was always traveling a lot and moved to the USA in the 1970s. However, as Cherry told the British newspaper The Guardian, the situation there was so uncomfortable for couples of different ethnic backgrounds that the family moved back to Sweden.
It’s experiences like these that have always driven and inspired Cherry. In the 2022 documentary “Neneh,” the musician says: “It can be quite good to feel these so-called restrictions. These things provoked me and I wanted to break through them.”
Her first big hit, “Buffalo Stance” from 1988, in which Cherry mixes dance-pop with hip-hop, is about a self-confident young woman – perhaps Cherry herself – who makes her way in big city life and doesn’t care about men lets say. Shortly before she was due to perform the song on the British television show “Top of the Pops”, a reporter asked the singer, who was heavily pregnant at the time, whether it was safe for her to perform in her condition. Cherry replied: “Of course, it’s not an illness!” Her energetic appearance with a round belly is remembered by many.
It’s not surprising that Cherry has found music as a vehicle to express her feelings and release her frustrations. Music was always present in her home, she says in the documentary “Neneh.” Whether in the converted school building in the Swedish countryside or on a world tour with her stepfather. “Either we played records or someone played music,” she says.
The creativity continues in Cherry’s own family. She has three daughters, all of whom are artists. The youngest daughter of Cherry and her husband, music producer Cameron McVey, is the successful R&B singer Mabel (28, “Don”t Call Me Up”). The couple’s older daughter, Tyson McVey (34), is Cherry’s youngest album “The Versions”. On it, other artists – including Robyn, Sia and the trans woman Anohni – reinterpret Cherry’s songs. It seems a little as if Cherry has cleared the stage for the next generation with this album.
The singer, who now commutes between London and Stockholm, told the Guardian about getting older: “I’ve reached a very interesting point in my life. I feel so unfinished and like I still have so much to say.” For a while, especially while she was in the middle of menopause, she was very aware of ageism, Cherry said, adding, “Now I’m on the other side and I feel a lot of freedom.”
In addition to music, fashion has always been a great passion for Cherry. Her clothing has always been rather flashy and has changed over the years from street style to high-end fashion. Cherry has worked with various fashion designers and has also walked the catwalk for luxury brands. But Cherry’s attitude towards fashion has also changed somewhat with age. She told the Guardian: “It’s not about keeping up with what’s ultra-cool.” You can be cool without being tied to trends, she said. It’s fitting that Cherry is one of the faces of the timeless Burberry collection this spring.
2024-03-10 09:29:07
#Music #attitude #message #Neneh #Cherry
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