Let's Talk About Sex

"Let's Talk About Sex" is a song by American hip-hop trio Salt-n-Pepa. It was released in August 1991 as a single from their Blacks' Magic album, and achieved great success in many countries, including Australia, Austria, Germany, The Netherlands and Switzerland where it was a number-one hit.

Content

The song talks about safe sex, the positive and negative sides of sex and the censorship that sex had around that time in American mainstream media. The song was later included in the trio's Greatest Hits (2000) album. It samples "I'll Take You There" by the Staple Singers. An alternate version of the song entitled "Let's Talk About AIDS" was released to radio on a promotional single and included as a b-side on various singles for the song. The lyrics were changed to more directly address the spread of AIDS and HIV.

Music video

The music video for "Let's Talk About Sex" directed by Millicent Shelton starts in a black-and-white scene with a girl turning on a radio and listening to the song. Then she starts kissing her boyfriend and scenes of Salt-n-Pepa and other couples kissing and hugging are shown. Next the video colorizes when Salt-n-Pepa are shown dancing. Another version of the video has a scene in which a skeleton is shown after the word 'AIDS' with a stamp saying 'censored' in its mouth.

Cover versions

German singer/band leader Max Raabe and Palast Orchester covered in cabaret/big band style for his 2001 album Super Hits.^[1]
The chorus was sampled in Pretty Ricky's 2006 single, "On the Hotline".
The song was featured in the riff-off scene in the 2012 film Pitch Perfect. It was also song by a choir of seniors in the 213 film Song for Marion, released in the United States as Unfinished Song.
The EDM groups Cheat Codes and Kris Kross Amsterdam re-use the song's chorus in their 2016 single, "Sex". This song, however, takes a more pro-sex R&B approach to the theme than the original, with new verses and dance-focused production.

Chart performances and awards

The song was certified gold by the RIAA and peaked at No. 13 at the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In the purely sales-based UK Singles Chart, the song hit No. 2, and in the German singles chart, the song hit No. 1, the first original song by an American hip-hop act to achieve that feat. It also hit No. 1 in the Australian ARIA Singles Chart.

In 1992, the song was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.

Track listings

7" Single

"Let's Talk About Sex!" (True Confessions Edit) — 3:32
"Let's Talk About Sex!" (Super Crispy Mix) - 4:39

CD Maxi

"Let's Talk About Sex!" (True Confessions Edit) — 3:32
"Let's Talk About Sex!" (Original Recipe Mix) — 4:42
"Let's Talk About Sex!" (Super Crispy Mix) — 4:39
"Do You Want Me" (Techno Philly Mix) — 6:31

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Chart (1991/92)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)^[2]	1
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)^[3]	1
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)^[4]	1
Canada Top Singles (RPM)^[5]	24
Canada Dance/Urban (RPM)^[6]	3
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)^[7]	8
France (SNEP)^[8]	11
Germany (Official German Charts)^[9]	1
Ireland (IRMA)^[10]	4
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)^[11]	1
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)^[12]	3
Norway (VG-lista)^[13]	3
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)^[14]	2
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)^[15]	1
UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)^[16]	2
U.S. Billboard Hot 100^[17]	13
U.S. Billboard Hot Rap Tracks^[17]	12
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play^[17]	6
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks^[17]	51

End of year charts

End of year chart (1992)	Position
Australian Singles Chart^[18]	48
Austrian Singles Chart^[19]	18
Dutch Top 40^[20]	13
Swiss Singles Chart^[21]	19

Certifications

Country	Certification	Date	Sales certified
Australia^[22]	Platinum	1992	70,000
Austria^[23]	Gold	December 5, 1991	15,000
UK^[24]	Silver	October 1, 1991	200,000
U.S.^[25]	Gold	December 10, 1991	500,000

Chart successions

Preceded by "James Brown Is Dead" by L.A. Style	Dutch Top 40 number-one single November 9, 1991 – November 23, 1991 (3 weeks)	Succeeded by "Kon ik maar even bij je zijn" by Gordon
Preceded by "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" by Bryan Adams	Austrian number-one single November 10, 1991 – February 9, 1992 (13 weeks)	Succeeded by "Justified & Ancient" by The KLF
	German number one single November 15, 1991 – January 17, 1992 (10 weeks)	Succeeded by "Das Boot" by U96
Preceded by "Black or White" by Michael Jackson	Swiss number one single January 19, 1992 (1 week)	Succeeded by "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" by Elton John and George Michael
Preceded by "Black or White" by Michael Jackson	Australian ARIA Singles Chart number-one single January 25, 1992 – February 15, 1992 (4 weeks)	Succeeded by "Love You Right" by Euphoria

References

↑ Max Raabe und Palast Orchester - News, Bilder, Konzerte und Videos 2013 - Neuigkeiten Archived August 29, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
↑ "Australian-charts.com – Salt-N-Pepa – Let's Talk About Sex!". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
↑ "Austriancharts.at – Salt-N-Pepa – Let's Talk About Sex!" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
↑ "Ultratop.be – Salt-N-Pepa – Let's Talk About Sex!" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
↑ Canada Top Singles peak
↑ Canada Dance/Urban peak
↑ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
↑ "Lescharts.com – Salt-N-Pepa – Let's Talk About Sex!" (in French). Les classement single.
↑ "Musicline.de – Salt-N-Pepa Single-Chartverfolgung" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH.
↑ Irish Singles Chart Irishcharts.ie Archived 2009-06-03 at WebCite (Retrieved August 20, 2008)
↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Salt-N-Pepa search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40.
↑ "Charts.org.nz – Salt-N-Pepa – Let's Talk About Sex!". Top 40 Singles.
↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Salt-N-Pepa – Let's Talk About Sex!". VG-lista.
↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Salt-N-Pepa – Let's Talk About Sex!". Singles Top 100.
↑ "Swisscharts.com – Salt-N-Pepa – Let's Talk About Sex!". Swiss Singles Chart.
↑ UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved August 20, 2008)
1 2 3 4 Billboard Allmusic.com (Retrieved August 20, 2008)
↑ 1992 Australian Singles Chart aria.com Archived September 2, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. (Retrieved August 20, 2008)
↑ 1992 Austrian Singles Chart Austriancharts.at Archived June 12, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. (Retrieved August 20, 2008)
↑ "Single top 100 over 1991" (PDF) (in Dutch). Top40. Archived from the original (pdf) on March 30, 2012. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
↑ 1992 Swiss Singles Chart Hitparade.ch Archived October 22, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. (Retrieved August 20, 2008)
↑ "ARIA Accreditations (1987-2010)". Australian Fun Countdowns. Retrieved 2015-08-04.
↑ Austrian certifications ifpi.at Archived 2010-02-01 at WebCite (Retrieved August 20, 2008)
↑ UK certifications Bpi.co.uk (Retrieved August 20, 2008)
↑ U.S. certifications riaa.com Archived 2007-06-26 at the Wayback Machine. (Retrieved August 20, 2008)

External links

Salt-N-Pepa
Cheryl "Salt" James-Wray Sandra "Pepa" Denton Deidra "DJ Spinderella" Roper
Studio albums	Hot, Cool & Vicious A Salt with a Deadly Pepa Blacks' Magic Very Necessary Brand New
Compilation albums	A Blitz of Salt-n-Pepa Hits The Greatest Hits Rapped in Remixes: The Greatest Hits Remixed The Best of Salt-N-Pepa
Singles	"Tramp" "Push It" "Shake Your Thang" "Twist and Shout" "Expression" "Do You Want Me" "Let's Talk About Sex" "You Showed Me" "Start Me Up" "Shoop" "Whatta Man" "None of Your Business" "Heaven 'n Hell" "Champagne" "Gitty Up" "The Brick Track Versus Gitty Up"
Related topics	Discography The Salt-N-Pepa Show
Book

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