Totally Stockholm 1
treadmill. I shut down a little bit. If you asked
my kids they’d probably say there was a time when I wasn’t really emotionally accessible.” After the birth of her third daughter, the rising pop star Mabel (who we’ll come to) and the release of her third album, 1996’s Man, she felt she could no longer ‘go through the motions’. It’s the reason why she didn’t realise another solo record until 2014’s raw, experimental Blank Project. Ultimately, she believes the choice Cardi B has made, and the support she has largely received from fans, is ‘beautiful’ and a sign of the broader progressiveness that contrasts with some of the sexist attitudes that were more prevalent when she was coming through. The armour of her look and attitude - what she calls the ‘metaphoric toughness’ she learned to convey through her hi-tops, mean-mugging and jangling medallions - partially protected her, she thinks, from blatant chauvinism and inappropriate advances. But there is one incident at a New York music industry party that she still remembers. “It was when Buffalo Stance was just out in the States and they were saying, ‘We’re having a problem because it’s not traditionally black so we don’t know where to put it on urban radio’,” she says. “This record exec was like, ‘If you give these radio station bosses what they want then they’ll put your record at the top of the pile.’ I guess he was suggesting I go with them into a little cleaning closet or whatever. It probably made me feel a little sick at the time but I think I kind of laughed, walked off and had a dance and then I left pretty promptly.” The ‘wake-up call’ of the #MeToo movement is just one of the reasons she resists the older pop star’s urge to mourn the good old days of the music industry. And as the mother of Tyson (a singer who scored some success as part of electro duo Panes), Naima (now a musician in jazz band Exotic Sin) and, of course, Mabel, she’s better placed to compare and contrast the two eras than most. “Mabel is unbelievable and so focused,” Cherry says proudly. “And it’s hard out there. She gets up sometimes and she’s doing two or three sessions a day. I’m in awe of her and so I try to support her with basic mum things. Like making her a take-out lunch.” Mabel still lives at home (“I’m quite happy about that but I’m not sure she is,” laughs Cherry) so it must be doubly hard to not chip in with advice on a chorus, an outfit choice or a video concept. “We talk about things as a family and we listen to stuff,” she says, breaking out that smile again. “But I’m still figuring out my own shit, to be honest with you.” Our time is nearly up. Tyson shows up and Cherry, ever the proud mum, introduces us and implores me to get the Soundcloud link for her newest track. We continue to chat glancingly about her visit to the Jungle in Calais and the ‘beauty and dignity’ she saw amid the muddy temporary structures. Does she worry, I wonder, about cynical eye-rolling as she prepares to release such a nakedly political album? “Well, it’s easy to be slightly narked off about stuff,” she says, evenly. “But ultimately, even if I’m on a bandwagon, I’d rather actually do something than just be passive and angry.” The laugh erupts once more. And then she’s up. Ready to go. 11