Salt-N-Pepa
Hip-Hop | 2012Salt-N-Pepa is a hip-hop trio from Queens and Brooklyn that was formed in 1985 by Cheryl Wray (“Salt”), Sandra Denton (“Pepa”), and Deidra Roper (“DJ Spinderella”). As one of the first female rap crews, Salt-N-Pepa broke barriers and opened doors that were once closed to women in hip-hop and gave women a voice in a male-dominated genre. The group’s first album, Hot, Cool & Vicious (1986), went platinum, thanks in large part to the song “Push It,” and the next two albums, A Salt with a Deadly Pepa (1988) and Blacks’ Magic (1990), also produced hits in the U.S. and UK. However, it was Very Necessary (1993) that made the group the first female rap act to have a multiplatinum-selling album, launching the hits “Shoop,” “Whatta Man,” featuring En Vogue, and “None of Your Business,” which earned the trio the Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance in 1995, making them the first-ever female rap Grammy winners. Very Necessary is still the best-selling album by an all-female rap act, and in 2010 Salt-N-Pepa also received the I Am Hip Hop Award at the BET Hip Hop Awards. Salt-N-Pepa, who made an appearance in a popular Geico commercial performing “Push It” in 2014, continues to tour.