Grammy Nominated artist Cheri Moon has been at the forefront of the music scene for most of her life and is not slowing down anytime soon. She celebrated her first-ever Grammy nomination under her children’s performer alias ‘Snooknuk’ for her work with the band All One Tribe and their nominated global kids anthem “We’re All The Same” (distributed by Bob Marley/Tuff Gong International). On March 8th, 2021 in honor of International Women’s Day, Cheri released a self-written female pop anthem entitled “Ain’t I A Woman” which Cheri performed at the first ever Black Women Family Music Festival that same year. The festival was in part a response to the controversy surrounding race at the Grammy awards that year (only White artists were nominated for Best Children’s Album).
“Aint I A Woman” was inspired by the Sojourner Truth speech of the same name, which Cheri was introduced to in high school. Cheri’s Grandma helped her gain a deeper understanding of the speech, which details the suffrage of Sojourner and the women she fought for.
Born and raised in the music capital of Memphis, TN, Cheri began singing Gospel with her family choir at just 8-years old. Her musical ambitions eventually drove her to the New York club scene for 10 years, where she began performing regularly at the historic CBGB’s and Tribeca Grand Club. Her songwriting skills earned her a publishing contract with Producers Timbaland and Jimmy Douglass. Since then, songs from her catalog have been licensed for numerous national commercials and TV shows – including popular soap operas like ‘All My Children’, ‘The Young and the Restless’, and many HBO shows.
Capturing music lovers’ attention around the world, Cheri signed to Universal Republic UK and by 2010, she had three smash hits in the clubs including ‘Ships in the Night‘ (#4 on the Music Week Club Charts), ‘House Arrest’ (#1 on the DMC World Charts & #2 on the Music Week Club/Commercial Charts), and ‘One More Crazy Summer’ (#2 on the Music Week Club Charts). Over the years Cheri has worked with legendary artists such as Timbaland, The Script and Missy Elliot.
But it’s not just music that Cheri is becoming known for. Cheri is one of the actors in the first-ever film and art series completely financed by NFT’s. The project, “I Live Here Now” – Keepers of the Inn, was photographed by Julie Pacino (daughter of Al Pacino and Beverly D’Angelo) and includes a collection of 3,356 photographs shot at the iconic Madonna Inn during rehearsal for the film. She has also been cast in Julie Pacino’s docu-drama, ‘Brainstorms’, which address the challenges families of Veterans endure when faced with traumatic brain injuries, as well as in a scripted audio series, ‘Sonic Leap’, featuring Anthony Anderson (Black-ish) from MGM-backed podcast studio Audio Up.
Clearly she has zero time to spare, but we managed to snag some time with the creative mogul to learn more about the message behind ‘We Are All The Same’, her female empowerment anthem ‘Ain’t I A Woman’, and her film projects in the pipeline.
Congrats on your first Grammy nomination! How did it make you feel to get the initial call?
The Grammy Nomination is a huge milestone for me! It’s an accomplishment that I’ve wished for and quite honestly didn’t know if it would ever happen. I’ve been in the music industry for so long and I’ve just kept going with the writing, performing, and putting together projects through passion not thinking I’d be nominated for a Grammy. It’s an honor to have had a project recognized by the Recording Academy as well as my peers in the industry!
Why did you decide to write the song ‘We Are All The Same’, and how did it come together?
With my Snooknuk project I wanted to produce content with positive messaging & affirmations for children. I set out to create change with my song, “We’re all the Same”. For kids, it breaks down the differences that people may have coming from a mix of cultures or backgrounds. It’s a celebration of those differences.
There’s still a lot of discrimination in the world, so if children can be taught at a young age that our differences are what makes us unique and gives us individuality, but we are all of the human race, this would help future generations. There’s nothing wrong with being yourself.
You released your #1 single ‘Ain’t I A Woman’ last year. Can you tell us about the song, and where the lyrics/idea came from?
‘Ain’t I A Woman’ is an inspirational Women’s Anthem that I wrote to inspire girls/women around the world to continue to fight for their dreams and beliefs but also to take time to celebrate womanhood and all their accomplishments. As a young girl, I was inspired by the Sojourner Truth speech “Ain’t I A Woman” and it always stuck with me. I decided to actually take the title of the speech and create an Anthem with a similar call to action. I put together an all-women’s team to help with the music video to tell a story.
The director Sophie De Pegrum was already devoted to telling women’s stories around the world through her documentaries and films, so that was a perfect fit. Working together as a team created this amazing synergy! Since releasing the song and video, I’ve received many messages from women about how this has encouraged them. It makes them feel limitless.
You have been in the entertainment and music biz since you were very young, and you have had a ton of success. What made you want to write children’s music, as well as pop music?
I was inspired to write Family/Children’s music because I would make up songs to teach my kids basic hygiene, life lessons, and pretty much anything I wanted them to learn. I had just come off a long run of writing jingles for commercials which is basically coming up with melodies and hooks that stick in people’s heads. It’s easier for things to stick if it’s in song form & catchy.
I wasn’t planning on making it into a whole project until I realized that my kids were singing these songs and all the tough moments like brushing teeth, sharing, potty training, eating veggies, etc. were becoming less challenging and we were actually having fun using the music to get through the day. As they got older, I wrote more about friendship, listening, the beauty of differences, and more. It helps kids to be more mindful and teaches social awareness. Suddenly I had full catalogs that tailored a day with your child. Mothers and other caretakers literally use these songs as tools for child development.
Who were your musical influences growing up?
I grew up on Whitney Houston, Tina Turner, Aretha, Pat Benatar, Annie Lennox, Janet Jackson, Diana Ross, a lot of the Divas!
Who are you most enjoying listening to right now?
More recent artists I enjoy listening to are Dua Lipa, Alicia Keyes, Adele, Duffy, & Lana Del Rey.
Alongside your musical career, you are also an actress, appearing in Julie Pacino’s docu-drama, ‘Brainstorms’, as well as a scripted audio series, ‘Sonic Leap’, featuring Anthony Anderson. Can you share more about these projects and what drew you to them?
I love the story ‘Brainstorms’ which told about Traumatic brain injuries that veterans sustain during combat and how it affects them, their families, and everyone around them. I play the wife of a retired soldier who basically comes home with a TBI and can’t function at all. So myself and our 6 year old daughter have to take care of him. It’s really deep to think that people actually endure this. Stories like this need to be told because we never really think about the entire situation from the spouse’s or child’s perspective. It’s enlightening for people to gain some ideas on how to progress through these situations.
‘Sonic Leap’ (Scripted Podcast) by Audio Up Media is just an interesting, flat-out FUN project! I had a blast recording this. It’s basically a musical TV show but on the radio. It’s a time travel piece with amazing characters played by Anthony Anderson, Hero The Band, Trippie Redd, Blanco Brown & of course yours truly. Hero the Band gets teleported back in time to 1985, where they have a chance to meet their musical destiny as 80’s rock gods, and their teenage parents and I play the mom in the 80s. Music, stories, amazing co-stars, and 80’s timeline, they didn’t have to ask me twice!
You are also one of the actors in the first-ever film and art series completely financed by NFTs. Can you tell us more about the project ‘I Live Here Now’, and how it works with NFTs?
The film was written by Julie Pacino about a young Hollywood actress who is sickened by the demands Hollywood has on women’s bodies but when she becomes pregnant, she runs away to the Infamous Madonna Inn and discovers an even darker entity.
‘Keepers of the Inn’ project is one of a kind because it is the NFT collection of images of the cast from ‘I Live Here Now’ doing a complete dress rehearsal of all the scenes on location at the infamous Madonna Inn. The collection completely sold out making the movie the 1st film to be fully funded through NFT’s which is historical!
How did NFTs influence the process of creating the project?
Besides ‘I Live Here Now’ being the first film to be fully funded by its NFT project, the art created through making the NFT collection will certainly give the film longevity in a different way on one of the biggest platforms of the future.
What is next for Snooknuk and One Tribe Collective?
I’m in the process of writing and producing another Snooknuk album and a Holiday album. I’m also working on a Musical based on similar concepts from Snooknuk. One Tribe Collective is gearing up for its second album and also putting together a Live Tour which will be EPIC. Stay tuned!
You can follow Cheri on Instagram and Youtube, and follow Snooknuk on Youtube. Watch the music videos for ‘We Are All The Same’ and ‘Ain’t I A Woman’ below:
