Buffalo Stance

Buffalo Stance was released in November 1988 by Circa and Virgin as the first single from Raw Like Sushi. An early version, "Looking Good Diving with the Wild Bunch", was the B-side of the 1986 Morgan-McVey single Looking Good Diving. Jamie Morgan has said Cherry wrote the rap and he wrote the lyrics of the sung chorus, and that Tim Simenon, then known as Bomb the Bass, showed interest in reworking it. Simenon and Mark Saunders produced the version that became the single. Mark Saunders later said that if they had been thinking properly about making a hit record, they would not have used anywhere near as many different parts.

The title refers to Buffalo, the group formed by the stylist Ray Petri, in which Cherry and McVey modelled. Cherry told The New York Times a buffalo stance is an attitude you need in order to get by. The song samples Malcolm McLaren's Buffalo Gals and Rock Steady Crew's Hey You, and its saxophone break comes from Miami's 1974 track Chicken Yellow. The 12-inch carried a Scratchapella, an instrumental and an Electro Ski Mix.

Success and legacy

It peaked at No. 3 on both the UK Singles Chart and the US Billboard Hot 100, reached No. 1 in the Netherlands and Sweden, and topped the Billboard dance club and 12-inch sales charts. It earned gold records in Canada, Sweden and the United States and a silver in the UK. John Maybury directed the video, which was nominated for Best New Artist in a Video at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards. Cherry performed the song on Top of the Pops seven months pregnant, and when a reporter asked whether that was safe she answered that it was not an illness.

Rolling Stone ranked it No. 412 on its list of the 500 best songs in 2021, and Billboard placed it at No. 238 on its 500 best pop songs in 2023. The Guardian ranked it eighth among the greatest female rap tracks in 2018. In 2022 Robyn, Mapei and Dev Hynes remade it for The Versions, a version Pitchfork found limp.