Salt 'n' Pepa

Salt 'n' Pepa
Salt 'n' Pepa (2013)
General information
origin	Queens , New York
Genre (s)	Hip hop
founding	1985, 2007
resolution	2002
Website	www.saltnpepa.com
Current occupation
rap	Cheryl "Salt" James
rap	Sandra "Pepa" Denton
DJ	DJ Spinderella

Salt-N-Pepa , and Salt-n-Pepa is an American R & B - and hip-hop - band from Queens , which consisted of 1985 by 2002. The members were Cheryl James (Salt), Sandy Denton (Pepa) and Deidra Roper (DJ Spinderella). Her greatest successes are the singles Push It (1987), Let's Talk About Sex (1991) and Whatta Man (1994). With more than 15 million records sold, they are among the most successful female rap musicians.

Band history

The beginnings of Salt-N-Pepa are the studies of the later producer Hurby Azor at the Center for Media Arts in New York. He created a response song to The Show by Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick and asked his friend Cheryl James and her colleague Sandy Denton to do the rap part. Together they finished the song entitled The Show Stopper and released it as a single under the band name Super Nature . The song was so successful that it hit number 46 on the US R&B charts in 1985.

They were then signed to the independent label Next Plateau with Hurby "Luv Bug" Azor as manager and producer . They renamed themselves Salt 'n' Pepa , after a line of text in The Show Stopper , and released their debut album Hot, Cool & Vicious a year later . Initially it sold reluctantly, but brought them at least three R&B hits with My Mike Sounds Nice , Tramp and Chick on the Side . All three are rap versions of R&B songs from the 60s and 70s. Then San Francisco DJ Cameron Paul discovered Push It , the Azor-written song on the B-side of Tramp , and played it in its remixed version. So the song only became a local hit and after its nationwide release it made it into the top 20 of the official single charts and became a million seller . When rap was first introduced as a separate field of music at the Grammy Awards in 1989 , Salt 'n' Pepa and the song were among the nominees. Outside the United States, Push It was also very successful , making it to the top 10 in many European countries and Australia and number 2 in the UK charts .

On the first album, Cheryl "Salt" James and Sandy "Pepa" Denton had worked with Pamela Latoya Green as a female DJ, but she got married and retired afterwards. On the second album they took instead Deidra Roper aka DJ Spinderella as a permanent third band member. A Salt with a Deadly Pepa was released in 1988 and was able to build on the success of the first album. With Shake Your Thang (It's Your Thing) , which is based on one of the Isley Brothers' greatest hits from 1969, they had their second international hit and at number 4 in the US R&B charts their highest position in the genre charts to date . They also released a rap version of Twist and Shout , which hit number 4 in the UK.

Salt 'n' Pepa then released a remix album and in 1990 the third studio album Blacks' Magic . It got very good reviews and while it was considered very pop-heavy it was also very successful in hip-hop circles and became the band's second platinum album in the United States. The single Expression , written by Salt, became the second million-seller and a number one hit in the rap charts. In 1991 a second bigger hit followed with Do You Want Me , which reached number 5 in England. But it wasn't until late 1991 that Let's Talk About Sex became the trio's biggest hit. The song, which criticizes the way the media deals with the topic of sex, wasn't quite as successful in the US, although it reached number 13 on the Hot 100. In return, it came first in numerous European countries, including the German-speaking countries, and in Australia.

It took a long time until the next album and Very Necessary was released in autumn 1993. In the USA it was by far the most successful album of the trio with over 5 million copies sold and number 4 in the album charts. This was also thanks to single hits like Shoop and especially Whatta Man , which they recorded together with the R&B quartet En Vogue . The joint venture was the third million seller of their career. With 4th and 3rd place respectively, the two singles were also their best-placed in the US single charts. As the fourth release, None of Your Business was no longer commercially successful, but brought Salt 'n' Pepa their only Grammy Award for the best rap performance of the year. In Europe, as with the previous album, individual songs were more successful than the album. In the UK, Whatta Man achieved the best ranking with 7th place.

Even though Azor and James' relationship had already tumbled in 1990, they had still worked professionally at Very Necessary . On the way to the fifth studio album, however, the musical common ground also came to an end. The three women were all mothers by now and had experienced changes in their lives as a result. Cheryl James had worked alongside the band with the gospel musician Kirk Franklin , who in return was one of the guest singers on the new album. Brand New was completed by Salt 'n' Pepa itself together with various producers and was released in autumn 1997. The album, however, did not manage to keep up with the development of rap music after the long break. It still achieved gold status in the USA and had two medium single hits with RU Ready and Gitty Up , but could not match the great success of the previous album.

Further changes in the personal environment followed. Sandra Denton married Anthony Criss alias Treach from Naughty by Nature in 1999 , but divorced in 2001. Cheryl James married producer Gavin Wray in 2000. Salt 'n' Pepa got further and further into the background and in 2002 the dissolution was officially announced. Deidra Roper, the youngest of the trio, was still active as a DJ and had her own radio show in Los Angeles in the mid-2000s. Occasionally, the three women got together for joint appearances, and in 2007 they appeared on television in a reality series called The Salt-n-Pepa Show . Denton published her autobiography the following year and hosted a television show in 2010.

Members

• "Salt": Cheryl James Wray (born March 28, 1966 in New York)
• "Pepa": Sandra Denton (born November 9, 1969 in Kingston , Jamaica)
• "DJ Spinderella": Deidra Muriel Roper (born August 3, 1971 in New York)

Discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)						Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US	R&B
1987	Hot, Cool & Vicious	DE63 (1 week) DE	-	-	-	US26th platinum (53 weeks)US	R&B7 (64 weeks) R&B	First published: December 8th 1986 Chart entry in DE in May 1988 Producer: Hurby Luv Bug
1988	A salt with a deadly Pepa	DE40 (6 weeks) DE	-	CH16 (2 weeks) CH	UK19th gold (27 weeks)UK	US38 (31 weeks) US	R&B8 (39 weeks) R&B	First published: July 26th, 1988 Producer: Hurby Luv Bug, The Invincibles
1990	Blacks' Magic	-	-	-	UK70 (1 week) UK	US38 platinum (71 weeks)US	R&B15 (23 weeks) R&B	First published: March 19, 1990 Producers: Hurby Luv Bug, The Invincibles, Steve Azor, Salt 'n' Pepa
1993	Very Necessary	DE51 (13 weeks) DE	-	-	UK36 (10 weeks) UK	US4th × 5 Quintuple platinum (89 weeks)US	R&B6 (75 weeks) R&B	Initial release: October 12, 1993 US sales: 5,000,000 Producers: Hurby Luv Bug, Steve Azor, Mark Sparks, Tommy Shannon, DJ Wynn, WEATOC INC, Salt 'n' Pepa
1997	Brand New	DE64 (3 weeks) DE	-	CH23 (5 weeks) CH	-	US37 gold (12 weeks)US	R&B16 (22 weeks) R&B	First published: October 21, 1997 Producers: Al West, Chad Elliott, Josef Powell, David Wynn, Salt 'n' Pepa

Remix albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)						Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US	R&B
1990	A Blitz of Salt-n-Pepa Hits: The Hits Remixed	-	-	-	UK70 (2 weeks) UK	-	R&B63 (10 weeks) R&B	First published: November 20, 1990
1992	Rapped in Remixes: The Greatest Hits Remixed	-	-	-	UK37 (2 weeks) UK	-	-	First published: April 1992

More remix albums

• 1995: Phat Remixes

Compilations

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)						Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US	R&B
1991	The Greatest Hits	DE10 (30 weeks) DE	AT7th gold (20 weeks)AT	CH13 gold (21 weeks)CH	UK6th platinum (20 weeks)UK	-	-	First published: September 1991
2008	The Best of Salt-n-Pepa: The Millennium Collection	-	-	-	-	-	R&B75 (5 weeks) R&B	First published: January 2008

More compilations

• 1990: The Greatest Hits CD
• 1999: The Best of Salt 'n' Pepa
• 2011: Icon

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)							Remarks	[↑]: treated together with the previous entry; [←]: placed in both charts
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US	R&B	Dance
1985	The Show Stoppa (Is Stupid Fresh)	-	-	-	-	-	R&B46 (13 weeks) R&B	-	First published: October 1985 Hurby, the Love Bug present's Super Nature Authors: Cheryl James, Sandra Denton
1987	My Mike Sounds Nice Hot, Cool & Vicious	-	-	-	UK85 (2 weeks) UK	-	R&B41 (13 weeks) R&B	-	First published: February 1987 Authors: Ralph MacDonald , Hurby Azor Original: Grover Washington, Jr. - Mister Magic , 1975
	Tramp Hot, Cool & Vicious	-	-	-	UK2 silver (19 weeks)UK	-	R&B21 (16 weeks) R&B	Dance18 (9 weeks) Dance	First published: July 1987 Authors: Lowell Fulson , Jimmy McCracklin Original: Lowell Fulson , 1966
	Push It Hot, Cool & Vicious ( Reissue )	DE9 (31 weeks) DE	AT9 (16 weeks) AT	CH6 (9 weeks) CH[UK: ↑]		US19th platinum (25 weeks)US	R&B28 (10 weeks) R&B[Dance: ↑]		First published: July 1987 Author: Hurby Azor
	Chick on the Side Hot, Cool & Vicious	-	-	-	-	-	R&B55 (10 weeks) R&B	Dance49 (3 weeks) Dance	First published: December 1987 Authors: Anita Pointer, Ruth Pointer, David Rubinson Original: The Pointer Sisters - How Long , 1975
1988	I Am Down The Greatest Hits	-	-	-	-	-	-[Dance: ↑]		First published: January 1988 Authors: Fingerprints
	Shake Your Thang (It's Your Thing) A Salt with a Deadly Pepa	DE29 (14 weeks) DE	-	-	UK22 (8 weeks) UK	-	R&B4 (18 weeks) R&B	Dance8 (10 weeks) Dance	First release: June 1988 feat. EU (Experience Unlimited) Authors: O'Kelly Isley, Ronald Isley, Rudolph Isley Original: The Isley Brothers - It's Your Thing , 1969
	Get Up Everybody (Get Up) A Salt with a Deadly Pepa	-	-	-	-	-	R&B14 (16 weeks) R&B	Dance39 (4 weeks) Dance	First published: October 1988 in Europe B-side of Twist and Shout Authors: Fingerprints
	Twist and Shout A Salt with a Deadly Pepa	DE37 (9 weeks) DE	-	-	UK4 (9 weeks) UK	-	R&B45 (7 weeks) R&B	-	First published: October 1988 in the US B-side of Get Up Everybody (Get Up) Authors: Bert Russell, Phil Medley Original: The Top Notes, 1961
1989	Expression Blacks' Magic	-	-	-	UK40 (6 weeks) UK	US26th platinum (21 weeks)US	R&B8 (25 weeks) R&B	Dance32 (10 weeks) Dance	First published: November 1989 Author: Cheryl James
1990	Crazy 4 U Sybil	-	-	-	UK71 (2 weeks) UK	-	R&B19 (13 weeks) R&B	-	First published: March 1990 with Sybil Authors: Kenni Hairston, Trevor Gale
	Independent Blacks' Magic	-	-	-	-	-	R&B85 (6 weeks) R&B	-	First published: July 1990 Authors: Cheryl James, Sandra Denton
1991	Do You Want Me Blacks' Magic	DE49 (4 weeks) DE	-	-	UK5 (12 weeks) UK	US21st gold (26 weeks)US	R&B32 (15 weeks) R&B	Dance26 (8 weeks) Dance	First publication: January 1991 Authors: Fingerprints
	Backyard Always	-	-	-	-	US73 (7 weeks) US	R&B4 (16 weeks) R&B	-	First published: February 1991 with Pebbles Authors: Babyface , LA Reid , Salt
	Let's Talk About Sex Blacks' Magic	DE1 (28 weeks) DE	AT1 gold (17 weeks)AT	CH1 (26 weeks) CH	UK2 silver (13 weeks)UK	US13 gold (19 weeks)US	R&B51 (10 weeks) R&B	Dance6 (12 weeks) Dance	First publication: August 1991 Authors: Fingerprints including samples from The Staple Singers - I'll Take You There, 1972 and One Way feat. Al Hudson - Let's Talk, 1985
	You Showed Me Blacks' Magic	DE13 (21 weeks) DE	AT13 (12 weeks) AT	CH15 (11 weeks) CH	UK15 (9 weeks) UK	US47 (20 weeks) US	R&B68 (8 weeks) R&B	-	First published: November 1991 Authors: Gene Clark , Roger McGuinn Original: The Turtles , 1968
1992	Expression '92 The Greatest Hits CD	-	-	-	UK23 (6 weeks) UK	-	-	-	First published: March 1992 Remix: Ben Liebrand
	Start Me Up Very Necessary	DE44 (8 weeks) DE	AT30 (1 week) AT	-	UK39 (3 weeks) UK	-	R&B84 (5 weeks) R&B	-	First published: August 1992 from the soundtrack of the film Stay Tuned Authors: Hurby Azor, Miguel Angelo Guerrero, Steve Azor
1993	Shoop Very Necessary	DE46 (10 weeks) DE	-	CH23 (13 weeks) CH	UK13 (12 weeks) UK	US4th gold (25 weeks)US	R&B3 (24 weeks) R&B	-	First published: September 1993 Authors: Mark Sparks, Cheryl James, Ike Turner , Otwane Roberts, Sandra Denton
1994	Whatta Man Very Necessary	DE39 (14 weeks) DE	AT27 (2 weeks) AT	-	UK7th silver (10 weeks)UK	US3 platinum (29 weeks)US	R&B3 (20 weeks) R&B	-	First published: December 1993 Author: Dave Crawford with En Vogue ; Original: Linda Lyndell , 1969
	None of Your Business Very Necessary	DE82 (3 weeks) DE	-	CH29 (5 weeks) CH	UK19 (8 weeks) UK	US32 (22 weeks) US	R&B57 (16 weeks) R&B	-	First published: July 1994 Grammy (Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group) Author: Hurby Azor
1995	Ain't Nuthin 'but a She Thing	-	-	-	-	US38 (15 weeks) US	R&B32 (11 weeks) R&B	-	First published: October 3, 1995 Author: Cheryl James
1996	Champagne	DE98 (4 weeks) DE	-	-	UK23 (6 weeks) UK	-	-	-	First release: December 1996 from the soundtrack of the film Bulletproof Authors: Salt, Pepa
1997	RU Ready Brand New	DE35 (7 weeks) DE	-	CH26 (3 weeks) CH	UK24 (2 weeks) UK	-	-	-	First published: October 1997 Author: Randy Muller Original: Brass Construction - Watch Out , 1979
1998	Gitty Up Brand New	-	-	-	-	US50 (14 weeks) US	R&B31 (20 weeks) R&B	-	First published: March 1998 Author and original: Rick James - Give It to Me Baby , 1981
1999	Push It (Again) The Best of Salt 'n' Pepa	DE26 (11 weeks) DE	-	-	-	-	-	-	First published: February 8th, 1999 Remixes by DJ Tonka , Klubbheads u. a.
	The Brick Track Versus Gitty Up The Best of Salt 'n' Pepa	DE64 (6 weeks) DE	-	CH93 (2 weeks) CH	UK22 (4 weeks) UK	-	-	-	First published: November 1999 Mashup of Gitty Up and Pink Floyd - Another Brick in the Wall , 1979

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Super Nature in the US charts
2. ^ Salt-N-Pepa Do It Their Way , Chris Mundy, Rolling Stone, October 16, 1997
3. ^ Salt 'N Pepa Biography , Colin Larkin, The Encyclopedia of Popular Music, in: Oldies.com, accessed May 15, 2016
4. ↑ Cheryl James at biography.com, accessed May 15, 2016
5. ↑ Dee Dee Roper at biography.com, accessed May 15, 2016
6. ^ Sandra Denton at biography.com, accessed May 15, 2016
7. ↑ ^{a b c d} Chart sources: Singles Albums UK1 UK2 US1 US2
8. ↑ ^{a b c d} gold / platinum databases: AT CH UK US
9. ↑ Very Necessary - Sales USA

Web links

• Salt Pepa 'n' at MusicBrainz (English)
• Salt-N-Pepa at Allmusic (English)
• Salt Pepa 'n' at Discogs (English)
• Supernature at Discogs (English)