On Friday, November 4, 2022, Salt-N-Pepa was honored with the 2,738th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the category of Recording. The star will be located at 6212 Hollywood Boulevard adjacent to Amoeba Music.
MC Lyte, YoYo, Roxanne Shante and other hip hop elite appeared to support the occasion.
The group’s musical bond began to take shape when they met as students at Queensborough Community College in Bayside, Queens, where they created a diss track that became a local hit. Soon after Deidra “Spinderella” Roper joined the duo as their official DJ. Raised in Brooklyn, NY and only 16 at the time, Spinderella is considered the most celebrated and iconic female DJ in Hip-Hop.
With a new name and new buzz, Salt-N-Pepa landed a deal to make 1986’s Hot, Cool & Vicious, their debut LP. Propelled by “Push It,” their breakout hit on the pop charts, the album went platinum. Salt-N-Pepa proved that they were more than just the flavor of the moment with 1988’s A Salt with a Deadly Pepa, which is certified platinum.
The ladies really began to shake things up lyrically on their third album, 1990’s Blacks’ Magic. Their music had a message, with empowering anthems like “Expression,” “Independent” and “Let’s Talk About Sex.” Now they were speaking for—and to—women in a way that was bigger than a dope beat and a fly flow. Salt-N-Pepa only got bigger with 1993’s Very Necessary, which true to its title, proved to be an essential album. Boasting two Top 5 hits— “Shoop” and “Whatta Man”, a killer collaboration with En Vogue — the LP went platinum five times over. But it was “None of Your Business” that won them Grammy gold, for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, in 1995.
Now the pioneering ladies are living legends who get to see their legacy playing out while they’re very still making moves. They became the first female rap act to have an album go gold and then platinum. They became, along with Queen Latifah, the first female MCs to win a Grammy. They have become international superstars, taking hip-hop from Russia to Australia. And they still have the best-selling album of all time by any female rap artists: their 1993 blockbuster Very Necessary.
What’s your favorite Song by Salt-N-Pepa?
