To this day, Salt-N-Pepa remains one of the most accomplished and respected female rap groups in the history of the genre. Although their decade-long run of plaque-earning albums and chart-topping singles ended over 20 years ago, the timeless essence of their music and their strong influence over female acts today keeps them forever relevant.
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Dubbed a duo but undeniably a trio, the New York-based group is now immortal in more ways than one. But, their start was as humble as any, and their progress was not linear, as they endured a good deal of turbulence along the way.
Salt-N-Pepa’s Origins
Cheryl James, better known as Salt, and Sandra Denton, better known as Pepa, first met as nursing students at Queensborough Community College in Queens, New York, along with being co-workers at a Sears department store. Eventually, with the help of Salt’s boyfriend-at-the-time Hurby Azor, the duo’s first-ever single, “The Showstopper,” made its way to the radio and eventually landed on the Billboard Top R&B chart.
[RELATED: Salt-N-Pepa to Get Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame]
Eventually bringing their DJ Deidra Roper, better known as Spinderella, into the fold, Salt-N-Pepa attached “The Showstopper” to their debut album, Hot, Cool & Vicious (1986). This album and each of their next four all achieved either gold or platinum certifications, with their most notable being Very Necessary‘s 5x platinum status from 1993.
The 2000s
After a 1999 tour and a Best of Salt-N-Pepa album release in 2000, the group officially disbanded in 2002. No longer having contractual obligations to release music, and with Salt fed up with the music industry, there felt like no path forward for the girls.
Years later, though, likely all in a better headspace, the trio began to deliver some of their first live performances since 1999. Hitting the stage for VH1’s Hip Hop Honors show in 2005, the 2008 BET Awards, and the 2009 Ladies of the ’80s concert in Hawaii, the group had officially reunited. In the midst of this, they also launched The Salt-N-Pepa Show on VH1 in 2007, which saw Salt, Pepa, and Spinderella work through issues that initially led to their demise.
Salt-N-Pepa Now
2016 and 2017 saw Salt-N-Pepa take another crack at releasing music, practically two decades removed from their final and most recent studio album, Brand New (1997). Releasing multiple different mixes of their single “Big Girls,” the group showed they still had a little bit of gas left in the tank.
[RELATED: New Kids On The Block Release New Song Featuring Salt-N-Pepa, Rick Astley, and En Vogue]
Additionally, The Salt-N-Pepa Show in 2007 made way for more on-screen adaptations for the group. Co-executive producing with Queen Latifah, Salt-N-Pepa helped launch their own biopic on Lifetime in January 2021, as they brought in actors to play each group member, along with Azor and other celebrity figures from their era.
Although Spinderella had initially left the group in 2019, she would eventually rejoin her two sisters one last time, as they earned their own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2022. Their tile is located near the Amoeba Music Store on Hollywood Blvd.
In 2022, Salt-N-Pepa hit the road with New Kids On The Block for their The Mixtape Tour, along with En Vogue and Rick Astley.
Photo by Tim Roney/Getty Images
