"Buffalo Stance" is a song by Swedish singer-songwriter Neneh Cherry, released in November 1988 by Circa and Virgin as the first single from the singer's debut album, Raw Like Sushi (1989).

An early version of the song appeared as the B-side on the 1986 Stock, Aitken, and Waterman-produced single "Looking Good Diving" by duo Morgan-McVey, which was made up of Jamie Morgan and Cherry's future husband Cameron McVey.

[2] Morgan says the B-side was written using elements from the single's A-side, most notably Phil Ramacon's distinctive ascending keyboard hook, with Cherry writing the rap, while he supplied lyrics for the sung chorus.

[1] He says that no one working on the track recognised its hit potential, which was only reconsidered after his chance encounter at The Wag nightclub with DJ Tim Simenon, who expressed interest in reworking the song.

"[6] Robert Hilburn from Los Angeles Times complimented "Buffalo Stance" as "a sly and sassy, yet also disarmingly tender slice of street-wise admonition to stand up for your rights rather than let insecurities or peer pressure lead you to mistakes in judgment.

"[7] Another Los Angeles Times editor, Chris Willman, commented, "No money-man can win my love / It's sweetness that I'm dreaming of, sings Cherry, turning down a "gigolo" who may or may not be a garden-variety pimp.

Nothing new there, but the pleasure of this tale is in the telling, and Britain's ripe-and-ready Cherry is an irresistible storyteller, rapping the verses with cocky defiance and singing the choruses with equally unruly loveliness.

"[9] People Magazine remarked that the singer half-sings, half-raps, "mock-tough lyrics" over a prominent drum-machine beat and minimal synthesized accompaniment.

The reviewer added that "when she sticks to that formula, singing about infatuation and seduction on the city's mean sidewalks" as on "Buffalo Stance", "she's fresh and inviting.

A brilliant melody plus a rap which knocks the "spots" off Salt 'n' Pepa makes this utterly ace and runner-up Single of the Fortnight.

She stated, "With smart samples and swaggering production from Bomb the Bass—not to mention fiercely feminist lyrics that demand respect and assert independence—“Buffalo Stance” remains one of the best singles of the ’80s.

[15] Stephen Holden from The New York Times felt "the musically multilayered dance hit "Buffalo Stance" defines a late-80's street attitude.

"[17] Lesley Chow from The Quietus said that on the song, "Cherry already comes across as a fully formed artist: powerful and casually multicultural, as we might expect from an African-Swedish singer raised in Yorkshire and Long Island."

A rising synth figure bubbles us up to a heavenly chorus ("No money man can win my love/ It's sweetness that I'm thinking of") which shows a rare tenderness in the narrator.

It entered the top 10 also in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and West Germany.