Salt-N-Pepa

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Salt-N-Pepa
Background information
Origin	New York City, New York, United States
Genre(s)	Hip hop
Years active	1986–1997, 2005–present
Label(s)	Next Plateau
Members
Cheryl James Sandy Denton Deidra Muriel Roper

Salt-N-Pepa were an American R&B and hip hop group, consisting of Cheryl James and Sandy Denton ("Salt" and "Pepa", respectively), and Deidra "Dee Dee" Roper (DJ Spinderella). They debuted with "The Show Stopper", an answer record to Doug E. Fresh & Slick Rick's "The Show". It was an underground hit and Salt-N-Pepa signed to Next Plateau. Their debut LP was Hot, Cool & Vicious (1986, which was produced by Salt's then-boyfriend, Hurby Azor, the group's manager, and he received songwriting credit for the album, though this was later disputed. It also featured DJ Pamela Green as the original Spinderella [1] though they do not include her in their list of credits, and neither does the album sleeve, but her face is included on the album cover.

Hot, Cool & Vicious received some small airplay on R&B stations thanks to the songs "My Mic Sound Nice" and "Tramp". But when a San Francisco DJ named Cameron Paul created a remix of "Push It", the b-side to "Tramp", it gave the group their first major hit single. The original first pressing of "Hot, Cool & Vicious" did not include the song "Push It". "Push It", now promoted as the single, quickly became a national hit and was nominated for a Grammy, pushing both the single and LP to Platinum album status. At this time, Dee Dee Roper would become the group's DJ, taking over the name Spinderella from Green.

Their second album A Salt With a Deadly Pepa (1988), which included a couple of rock-rap anthems, attained gold status upon its release. It contained a moderate hit in "Shake Your Thang", featuring the go go band E.U., and a minor hit with "Everybody Get Up". Another single, "Twist And Shout" became a UK hit.

Their third original LP, Blacks' Magic (1990) was a breakthrough moment for Salt-N-Pepa, on personal terms. The group wanted to work with some new producers, but were at the beg and mercy of Azor who was often late or a no show altogether. Being tied up producing other acts, Azor agreed to let the women work with other producers to finish the album. James and Denton took on their first producing assignments themselves and worked with Invincible's Producer Dana "Dum" Mozie and others as well. The result was hit singles in "Expression" (produced by James), "Do You Want Me", and "Let's Talk About Sex". The album became a best seller and is considered one of hip-hop's strongest releases. Salt, Pepa and Spinderella were recognized for their production talents as well.

Salt-N-Pepa's fourth album Very Necessary, released in 1993 (see 1993 in music), and their first on a new label, London Records, was their most successful album to date. Breaking further away from Azor, whom the group accused of not paying them fair royalties, the album featured production by James, Denton, and this time Roper, and performed extremely well on the charts. Buoyed by the singles "Shoop" (their first U.S. Top Ten), "Whatta Man" (with En Vogue and also a Top Ten hit) and "None Of Your Business", the album eventually went four times platinum in the U.S. at its time of release. The group toured and Salt went on to co-star in the motion picture Who's the Man?, and Pepa co-starred in the movie Joe's Apartment. The trio also won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance in 1995 for "None Of Your Business", making them the first female rap Grammy winners.

Having completely broken away from Azor, they signed with Red Ant Entertainment for their next release, and undertook production duties again. Their fifth album, "Brand New" (1997), hit stores a few months later and received good reviews upon its release. But Red Ant filed for bankruptcy soon afterwards, shutting down promotion on the album before it really began. Salt-N-Pepa toured in support of the album but without promotion from the bankrupt label, only scored minor hits such as "R U Ready" and "Gitty Up".

Salt-N-Pepa insist they wrote many of the lyrics on their earlier albums, although Azor took all the credit. When Blacks' Magic was released they began displaying a more responsible and feminist view, not believing women were better than men, but that they can be just as good.

In the 1980s, most rap and hip-hop songs featured rappers rapping through the entire song. Salt-N-Pepa were among the innovators of combining rap verses with hooks or choruses that were actually sung. They first used this technique on the single "Shake Your Thang" from their second album. They then began to apply it more regularly on subsequent albums. Today, it has become standard for rap and hip-hop artists to arrange a song this way.

In March 1999, Salt-N-Pepa embarked on their final live tour. Pepa (Sandy Denton) married Treach of Naughty By Nature on July 27, 1999. Salt-N-Pepa's greatest-hits album, entitled Salt-N-Pepa: The Best Of was released on January 25, 2000. Treach and Pepa were divorced on July 31, 2001. The group officially disbanded in 2002. Upon disbanding, Salt (Cheryl James) claimed she had enough of the music industry and would no longer be involved in it. However, all that changed when Cheryl announced that she would be releasing her first solo CD "Salt of the Earth" which later changed to "Salt Unrapped".

Cheryl James and Sandy Denton appeared on VH1's Hip Hop Honors in November 2004, without Spinderella, however, they did not perform.

Sandy "Pepa" Denton joined José Canseco, Bronson Pinchot, Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth, Caprice Bourret, Janice Dickinson, and Carey Hart on the 5th season of the VH1 series The Surreal Life. In a poll, Pepa was found to be the most popular member of the show's cast.

Salt-N-Pepa reunited on September 22, 2005, and gave their first performance in six years. They sang Whatta Man, along with En Vogue, as a part of VH1's Hip Hop Honors program. Spinderella recently was a radio personality on KKBT 100.3 in Los Angeles. As of mid-2006, she is still on the radio, hosting a weekly nationally syndicated, old school hip hop radio show called "The Backspin" alongside DJ Mo'Dav.