Sweden has long been known for being the home of a lot of great pop music. Whether you’re an ABBA fan, a Britney fan or a Robyn fan; Sweden’s got’chu. But a genre it’s not really known for is R&B. But in Sweden’s defence, R&B in any country other than the US struggles to get noticed globally. And the non US local R&B scene is often cluttered with cookie cutter versions of what the US has either done or is doing. But gems do exist, and there are always a handful of artists in each country who are doing the damn thing and doing it well. And holding it down for Sweden, is Cherrie. Positioning and visibility are two things which seem to be very crucial to Cherrie - being the daughter of immigrants who had to grow up in countries where she was often the exception and not the norm. And as an R&B artist in Sweden, she is once again the exception.Cherrie’s debut album was fine. It even charted in the top 20. But nothing about it felt special or of note. With Araweelo though? Different story. Araweelo builds on the sound of her debut, but elevates it massively to such a point where it feels like her first. Much in the same way that many see Control as Janet’s first. Janet Jackson? Dream Street? We don’t know her. But the most important thing Cherrie does is put her entire foot down and place pins on a map. You could ignore Cherrie’s debut and pass it off as just another wannabe R&B album. But it’s harder to do Araweelo the same way when it’s firing on far more cylinders.
Some of Cherrie’s more immediate influences are very present in this album. More so than they were on her debut. Cherrie has cited Aaliyah as a huge influence, and you can definitely hear it, and see it in some of Cherrie’s fashion. But one artist that permeates through this album in spades is Brandy, who gets a shout-out on the song “Känns Som 05'” along with JoJo. The way Cherrie hits certain notes. The way she layers certain moments. It’s all Brandy. Another is Janet Jackson, who I don’t think gets the credit she deserves for popularising what many have shadily coined Whisper R&B; something that many artists from Ciara to Summer Walker have seen huge successes with.
The sound of Araweelo is of the sound that’s been popular on the US charts and US radio for the past few years now. Trap style drums and 808s. Yes, Araweelo has all of the hallmarks of something made in 2018, but it is grounded by the smoothness of 90s R&B. It makes sense, given that Cherrie calls Aaliyah out as an influence, and that Brandy and Janet Jackson appear to be others. Women of R&B in the 90s is clearly where Cherrie’s heart lies. She has taste. The 90s was one of the best eras for R&B. Women were really holding it down and released some of their best work during that time, and the music they put out in the 90s is still fire to this day, and sounds just as fresh now as it ever did. So whilst Araweelo can slot nicely into the soundscape of the 2010s, 90s R&B is definitely at the core of it; and it’s smart, regardless of intention. 90s and early 2000s R&B heads will dig the familiarity of some of the sounds. And the kids of today will dig it because songs like “Det Slår Mig Ibland” and “Find You” sound a bit like Drake; who also has a big obsession with 90s R&B.
It’s crazy to me that Araweelo wasn’t pushed in markets outside of Sweden, as it would have done well and latched on because of its sound. Radio would absolutely play something like the album title track, “Araweelo” which just feels so US radio and MTV ready. Smooth verses to hip roll to, and a hook which knocks in a fashion that you can’t not imagine some fire choreo in a 1999 Hype Williams directed video. Seductive, but goes so hard that you could put a rapper on it for a remix and it wouldn’t feel like a misfit.
Cherrie lays her influences clear on this album, and by doing so reveals a lot about herself. But Cherrie also uses music to tell her own story and create her own narrative on her own terms. Credited as a songwriter on every song, Araweelo speaks a great deal on the person that Cherrie was, who she is and who she wants to be. That Control reference wasn’t random y’all. It’s very real. Araweelo feels like a starting point for Cherrie, off the back of long considerations of how she wants people to see her, and ensuring it’s through her own lens. Whilst Cherrie’s debut album Sherihan bore her name (Sherihan is an alternate spelling of her birth name Shiriihan), Cherrie wasn’t at a point creatively or even personally to be able to really present who she was, because she wasn’t that person yet. Cherrie’s follow up is instead named after a Somali queen, which not only lays it clear on the table that Cherrie herself is Somali, but feels like a sign that Cherrie found her purpose and the will to step into it.
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| Cherrie | Araweelo |
“Det Slår Mig Ibland” is one of the most autobiographical songs on the album; painting a vivid picture of a very specific point in Cherrie’s life - her teens. Mentions of listening to Brandy and JoJo, and wanting the careers they had. (Gurl. If you only knew the career struggles these women would face). Hanging out with her friends. Sports days. Missing the last train home. Listening to songs that her friends sent her on MSN. It’s the perfect intersection of Cherrie being authentic to herself, to the sound of the 90s and also inadvertently touching on what many would deem a part of Y2K culture. If any of you reading this happen to listen to Rina Sawayama, “Det Slår Mig Ibland” is basically Cherrie’s “Paradisin’”. But then you have a song like the album title track Araweelo; a jump to Cherrie being at a point in her life where she realises her purpose, and that she won’t compromise and be ashamed of the parts of her that some may have told her over the years to downplay.
There’s a sense of responsibility that Cherrie seems to carry with Araweelo. To be visible for the girls who grew up like her, not seeing themselves in music. For the girls who were made to feel ashamed of things, in addition to their skin colour, that tied them to their racial identity. But by just being who she is, Cherrie also offers an insight for us all - that a Somali girl who was raised in Norway and grew up in Sweden can do R&B, and there-by whatever she wants. Cherrie may be seen as an anomaly and something unorthodox, but she isn’t. And this feels like part of the driving force for Araweelo. To show that she’s one of many, and turn to focus on our own closed mindedness. Many of us simply aren’t looking hard enough, and refuse to believe that something other than what we’ve always known.
Araweelo is so centred around Cherrie and her personal experiences, that the choice to open the album with “Kärt Barn” is baffling to me. Even if you’re coming into this album as a non Swedish speaker, with no bearing on what the song is about; there’s no avoiding that Cherrie is barely on the song (taking a backseat to the featured rappers Guleed and Ozzy) and only appears a third of the way into the song. “Det slår mig ibland” absolutely should have opened the album, and for me is the unofficial Araweelo opener. It does a far better job of setting the tone for the album. “Kärt Barn” generally isn’t a good song anyway. It’s the only certified skip on the album. But it’s unfortunate that it’s the first impression of the album.
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| Cherrie | Araweelo |
Cherrie citing Aaliyah as an influence is a good indicator of what to expect from Cherrie’s voice if you’ve not heard her sing before. She has a very smooth voice, and a casual and laid back way of singing. Very similar to Kelela. An apt comparison, as musically and stylistically, there are also some parallels between them. Cherrie knows her voice well; never trying anything bold or audacious on a song which sees her placed out of her element. And whilst for most of the album Cherrie doesn’t give much in terms of what she does with her voice, she still surprises late in the album. Cherrie does things with her voice on “Förlåtelsen” that she doesn’t do elsewhere. She takes her voice as low as it’ll go and as high as it’ll go. And she croons and riffs throughout the entire thing. She exhibits a richness to her voice on this song that had me like ‘Bitch, you waited 9 tracks to give me this!?’. But it also makes the moment more special, because it’s so sparing. And also because you don’t quite expect it, despite Cherrie laying the groundwork for it and giving you hints she could go there throughout the album.
Cherrie finds her pocket and she stays in it, and it works. Cherrie also has a keen ear for what sounds work well with her voice, which bolsters the production. The only note on the production that I have is that I wish more of the songs were arranged more around how Cherrie sings and the structure of the songs. “Araweelo” and “Sagoblått” are two of the few instances where the music felt like it was tailored around how Cherrie sang and laid out the song. I don’t need to have key changes, modulations and all of the things, because not every song warrants it. But just some small touches in the arrangements and the mixing would have helped marry Cherrie and the music just that bit more, so that songs didn’t just feel like Cherrie was handed a beat and that was it. But this will seem like a straw clutch to most, and something only a production whore like myself would pick up on. But it’s something that sticks out to me, especially compared to Cherrie’s third studio album Naag Nool, where production, arrangements and mixing decisions were made based on how Cherrie structured her songs.
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| Cherrie | Araweelo |
Araweelo is so understated, but so potent in what it manages to do. Cherrie sounds nice. The sound and the vibe of the music is spot on. The lyrics are earnest. Cherrie manages to be a great ambassador for Swedish R&B. Cherrie also manages to be a great ambassador for Somali pop stars. But even with the weight of the optics and representation set aside, Araweelo is just a solid R&B album, which manages to feel like it’s not trying too hard to really do or be anything, despite what it ends up carrying on its shoulders.
Highlights:
▪ Det Slår Mig Ibland 🔥
▪ Sherihan Part II
▪ Sagoblått 🔥
▪ Känns Som 05'
▪ Araweelo 🔥
▪ Vadsomhelst
▪ rnb4u 🔥
▪ Förlåtelsen 🏆 J’s fave
▪ Gatubarn
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