Salt-N-Pepa

One of the first female rap groups to achieve mainstream success, Salt-N-Pepa is a hip-hop duo from Queens, New York. Cheryl “Salt” James and Sandra “Pepa” Denton met at Queensborough Community College while both were studying nursing and quickly struck up a friendship that evolved into the full-blown musical project with the addition of DJ Latoya Hanson. After making their debut as Super Nature with the single “The Show Stoppa (Is Stupid Fresh)” in 1985, they renamed themselves Salt-N-Pepa and made waves in the rap and R&B scene with their first long-player Hot, Cool & Vicious (1986), which sold over 1 million copies in the United States and turned them into the first female rap act to achieve gold and platinum sales. In 1987, the single “Push It” became an unexpected hit across the pond, reaching Number 2 in the UK and cracking the Top 10 in several other European countries. That same year, Latoya Hanson quit the group and was replaced by Deidra “Spinderella” Roper. More success followed with the albums A Salt with a Deadly Pepa (1988) and Blacks' Magic (1990), both of which helped pave the way for their breakthrough with 1993's Very Necessary. The album bowed at Number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spun off the chart-topping hits “Shoop” and “Whatta Man” with En Vogue, achieving quintuple-platinum sales in the process. Following the release of Brand New in 1997, and after several legal and economic issues, Salt-N-Pepa disbanded in 2002. They would reunite in 2005 to reap the rewards of their hard work, featuring on VH1’s Hip Hop Honors and joining the Legends of Hip Hop tour in 2011. Subsequently, an eponymous biopic about the group premiered on Lifetime in 2021.

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