Salt-N-Pepa is an American group formed in New York in 1985 and originally composed of Cheryl 'Salt' James, Sandra 'Pepa' Denton and Latoya Hanson, which will be replaced from 1986 by Deidra 'Dj Spinderella' Roper. A group that at the very beginning will be called Super Nature.
This trio of rap singer girls, an almost unique model, therefore started in 1985 with the release of a first Single "The show stopped". A first Single which meets with great esteem success and which above all allows girls to show that rap can also be used by women. In addition with pretty girls, wearing sexy clothes and who do not hesitate to talk about sex about boys in their songs and this without taboos.
A year later in 1986, following this unexpected success, the band renamed themselves Salt’N’Pepa and released their debut album "Hot, cool and vicious". An album that got off to a sluggish start but it was without counting on the providential help of a San Francisco DJ/Producer named Cameron Paul.
Indeed, the latter remixes the track "Push it", which is in truth the B side of the single "Tramp", and makes it a real bomb. So much so that the title became a global mega hit in 1987 and propelled the group in a sensational way to the top of the Charts. Thanks to this major title, the album will sell around 1.4 million copies.
The year 1988 saw the release of the album “A salt with a deadly pepa”, an album that was less successful than its predecessor despite two flagship titles that are “Shake your thang” and “Twist and shout”, cover of luxury of the cult Top Notes title dating from 1961. The album will only sell - 800,000 copies.
Then came the change of decade and the release of the album “Black's magic” in 1990. Album with fairly average global success but which alone produced three of the group's biggest hits, with the enormous “Let's talk about sex baby” at the top of the list. Huge Single that will remain as one of the most emblematic hits of the decade and which will remain their biggest record success. Album from which will also be extracted the enormous "Do you want me" and "You showed me". This time, on the album sales side, we will exceed 1.6 million copies !
A hallucinating success story that will not stop there because the album "Very necessary" was released in 1993, an album that will make a real planetary tidal wave and remains to this day their best-selling album with 7 million copies sold around the world ! Album from which will be extracted two flagship Singles that are "Shoop" which leaves the same year and "Whatta man" which leaves him in 1994.
The year 1995, paradoxically, will not be a Grand Cru. The band will only release one title and it will meet with modest success. On the other hand, there was a strong comeback in 1996 with the soundtrack of the film Bulletproof for which they signed the title “Champagne”, a title which would have a great world-class success.
New album "Brand new" in 1997 but for lack of sufficient promotion, the album will go relatively unnoticed and will not experience the success of previous albums. A failure that will sound the death knell for the group, which will eventually separate at the start of the new millennium.
To discover or rediscover...
Discography (among others ...) :
80s Decade :
The show stoppa 1985
My mic sounds nice 1987
Push it 1987
Shake your thang 1988
Get up everybody (Get up) 1988
Twist and shout 1989
Expression 1989
90s Decade :
Do you want me 1991
Let’s talk about sex 1991
You showed me 1991
Start me up 1992
Shoop 1993
Whatta man 1994
None of your business 1994
Ain't nothin' but a she thing 1995
Champagne 1996
R U ready 1997
Gitty up 1998
The brick track versus gitty up 1999
Tracks :
1985 ... a first title to break in and talk about the group. We are far from the smashing start but they still get their first ranked hit here
1987 ... after an empty year in 1986, quiet return in this year 1987. Nothing extraordinary but a title which will be classified on both sides of the Atlantic
1987 ... then THIS title comes ! The girls go squarely into another dimension and smash everything on a planetary level. They get their first mega hit here and see their notoriety literally explode. MAS-TER-FUL !
1988 ... now that the momentum is in place, the girls just have to unroll. And that, to unroll, they unroll !
1988 ... they still have trouble repeating the feat of "Push it". The level of success remains global but has nothing to compare with what they have experienced on this title
1989 ... the end of the decade will not change the situation. Especially when they play it to us as a luxury cover of a Top Notes title dating from 1961. It's well done but nothing more ...
1989 ... we are still waiting for the brilliant inspiration which makes a normal title an exceptional title. They came close to it in 1987 but still can not get the cup, the real one. It won't be long ...
1991 ... it won't be for this title yet, but we still feel that something is happening and that the girls' style, like the sound, is changing. It all smells good !
1991 ... that to smell good, it smells good. It smells so good that they finally reach the top of the world and land here the biggest success of their entire career. A planetary mega hit which finally comes to reward years and years of perseverance which finally pays off. MAS-TER-FUL !
1991 ... an enormous year 1991 with a third top hit in the wake. The girls are at the height of their possibilities and unroll with amazing ease
1992 ... the years go by but are not necessarily alike. As much as 1991 was exceptional, 1992 will seem somewhat pale in terms of success in the Charts. And yet, quality is essential. Astonishing paradox ....
1993 ... single title year but return of frank and massive success. There are years with and years without. It is clear that for this one, it will be with and this despite a level of the most simplistic melody. Go figure it out again ...
1994 ... inevitably, when you bring together two of the most trendy girl groups of the moment, you suspect that the result will be hot boiling. And it is, the proof !
1994 ... the only problem is that their style has changed very little since their debut. And that at a given moment, the absence of melody or almost ends up boring somewhat ...
1995 ... the output level of titles will slow down considerably, which is not in the direction of a frank and massive return of success. An adventure that is drawing to a close ...
1996 ... the girls still manage to catch up with the leading pack for this title. But it will be the last time ...
1997 ... in a musical world that has evolved considerably in 10 years, girls have remained at the same stage. They are doing what they can but the gap with the competition is now too important to hope for any return to favor at the end of the decade ...
1998 ... and yet, he would have lacked little to see them come back in the race. The proof with this title already a little more trendy on the sound side ...
1999 ... so there, daring to cover Pink Floyd, you had to dare this one. A daring bet, a risky bet but which in the end works quite well. Nice last stand to finish !
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Wiki :
Official Website :
Greatest Hits :
Discography :