Cherokee Pogue hails from Brooklyn, New York, and started writing poetry when she was 10, forming her first band when she was 13 years old. At the age of 16 she met a local singer/songwriter named Auto (whom she later married) and they released an album 'Naked Music' in 1992 on Morgan Creek Records. The album was not a success, despite the video for 'Taste' getting some airplay, and following friction between the pair Cherokee and Auto split in 1995. Moving to Los Angeles, Cherokee got a deal with RCA records in 1998, and released her debut solo album 'I Love You....Me', which was far less funky than her album with Auto, and veered into neo-soul, which was big at the time thanks to artists like Erykah Badu. A single was released from the album, and 'Ooh Wee Wee' peaked at #88 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart, staying there for three weeks. A promo single for 'Steppin' Stone' was also released, and at the same time she was busy performing on shows such as 'Soul Train' and 'Motown Live', as well as featuring in a huge ad campaign for GAP. Despite all of this promotion, her album failed to chart, but RCA did allow her to record a second record, to be called 'Soul Parade', and which was scheduled for release in 2001. Unfortunately, the division of RCA Records responsible for releasing the album ended up folding, and although she was later transferred over to sister company Arista Records, and a March 2002 release date was scheduled, the album was never released. Cherokee later released it herself through her website, and also issued the singles 'Nectarine' and I Swear' from it, although neither of them charted, and it's since become increasingly hard to track down. Cherokee later married record producer Neal Pogue and they had a daughter, and she took the next six years off to raise her, returning to the music scene in 2011 and joining Brazilian guitarist Fred Card to form reggae/soul duo Esprit De Corps, whom she continues to record and tour with to this day. To my ears this is an excellent collection of nu-soul, and did not deserve to be shelved, and so here it is so that you can enjoy it as well.
01 Runaway
02 Lips
03 A Woman knows (feat. Bilal)
04 I Swear
05 Nectarine (feat. Andre 3000)
06 Star
07 Nothing
08 Crazy
09 Daddy How
10 Where
11 One
12 Can't Let It Go