What Ever Happened to: Cherish

Hey, 90s babies, get your coins in order, because word just hit that the Millennium Tour 2020 is headed your way! The first version was so nice, they had to hit y’all twice.

Get ready to see Omarion and Bow Wow and Soulja Boy and Pretty Ricky and Sammie and Ying Yang Twins and whytheyain’tgotnoladiesonthisthing?

Were Ciara and whoever is left in Danity Kane unavailable?

That got me to thinking about Cherish, arguably one of the last successful girl groups of their era. Platinum success, hit singles, constant appearances on 106 & Park – but what ever happened to them?

You know I’ve got the answers.

The roots of Cherish started at home, they’re definitely a family affair. Sisters Farrah, Neosha, and twins Felisha and Fallon King were born into a musical family. Specifically, their father was a member of the band Professions of Sounds, which toured with groups like Earth, Wind & Fire and the Emotions, so you know these ladies knew good music.

Dear old dad had his baby girls performing almost as soon as they could braid their own hair. According to the girls, the name Cherish came about when their dad asked them “do you cherish what you do?” They said yes, and Cherish was born. Awww.

The first time we heard Cherish was in 2003 when they appeared on Da Brat’s “In Love with Chu” – an underrated single from the underrated Limelite, Luv & Niteclubz  album.

Can we take a pause for a moment to give Da Brat – the first female rapper ever to go platinum – her flowers? Y’all make up reasons to celebrate underachievers these days; instead, show love to the real pioneers while we still have them.

“In Love with Chu” made minor waves, but there was enough momentum to lead to Cherish’s first official single, “Miss P,” written by Kandi, produced by Jermaine Dupri and featuring Da Brat.

That’s a guaranteed hit, right?

“Miss P” is the most 2003-sounding song ever. It’s basically the R&B version of 50 Cent’s “P.I.M.P.” “Miss P” wasn’t a bad track – it’s super catchy – it just lacked originality. The single didn’t stick, and their planned debut The Moment was thrown into the back of the freezer like an old bag of peas.

But instead of GoingOnTwitterToThrowTantrumsAndBlameEverybodyButThemselvesForTheirFailuresLikeSixYearOlds…

ahem, sorry, these 2019 R&B singers got me feeling a type of way. Let me try that again:

Undeterred, the ladies dusted themselves off to try again/try again with a completely new album. This time, they took control, writing most of the tracks themselves. And three years later, they were back with their biggest hit to date “Do It To It.” Keep in mind that this was the mid-00s, where the “Crunk&B” era was still hot n’ heavy, so there was more poppin’ and snappin’ and leanin’ and rockin’ than your drunk grandma in a runaway rocking chair. “Do It To It” became a top 10 R&B hit and was on BET’s 106 & Park countdown seemingly FOREVER.

Once “Do It To It” took off, Cherish finally was able to drop their debut album, Unappreciated in 2006. The title track served as the follow-up single, climbing to No. 14 on the R&B charts. Personally, I liked it more than “Do It To It,” but maybe that’s because it upheld the tradition of girl groups complaining about their men while hanging out near the porch.

Is this a thing y’all learned from watching 227 reruns?

I guess Mary and Pearl n’ dem taught y’all well. Unappreciated would go on to be a platinum seller for the girls.

Just a year later, Cherish was back in the studio and by 2008, they returned with their sophomore album, The Truth, led by the single “Killa” featuring Yung Joc. I was surprised to learn that this track didn’t perform nearly as well as “Do It To It,” because it seemed even MORE widespread than its predecessor at the time, though that’s probably just the 106 & Park effect. The way they’d play some of  those videos for months on end you’d think they were bigger than Thriller. Not so for “Killa” though, and that might be due to the “Crunk&B” fad running out of steam by the end of the decade.

In true Cherish fashion, it was the follow-up single that caught my ear. TILL THIS DAY, the smoky, haunting “Amnesia” is the best song the girls ever recorded.

Because there is no justice in this world, “Amnesia” didn’t get much traction at all, barely charting. The Truth is, despite mild success of “Killa,” Cherish’s second album floundered.

And here’s where things started to get weird.

Later in 2008, word got out that Felisha and Fallon were working on a project separate from their sisters. Of course, speculation of beefin’ n’ breakin’ up soon followed but that was downplayed.

But a year later we got infected.

Um, I mean we got a SONG called “Infected” from F+F. And even though those breakup rumors were initially waved away as fake news, Farrah and Neosha officially departed the group by the turn of the decade. Besides a few song leaks here and there, the future of Cherish seemed in doubt.

Things turned around in 2017, when Felisha and Fallon, officially branded as Cherish, unloaded a handful of new tracks. Chief among them was “Self Destruction,” a song so great that it landed at No. 6 on our list of the 100 best R&B songs of 2017. I still rock with that one.

There’s still no word of an album and the ladies have been quiet as of late, but never say never I guess.

Should They Come Back?: Certainly. R&B groups bring a certain magic to the game and since there are barely any female groups making waves these days (but shouts out to the Amours, VanJess and Chloe X Halle), the door is wide open for a comeback. “Self Destruction” proves that Cherish has a lot left in the tank, whether as a duo or a quartet.

And hey, with another Millennium Tour coming up, I’m sure there’s more than enough room on the nostalgia train for Cherish. They can have Lil Fizz’s seat. I heard he won’t be needing it.

Visit our “What Ever Happened to…” archive for more on your favorite forgotten artists