Chattanooga Times Free Press - ChattanoogaNow
Three more nights until Riverbend's fireworks finale.
THROUGH SATURDAY
There were not a lot of female rappers in the early 1990s, and the most famous one, Queen Latifah, was blunt in interviews about the lack of respect male hip-hop artists gave the women who wanted a place in their world as vocalists rather than bikini-clad backup dancers. Then there was Salt-N-Pepa. They came from Queens, N.Y. They were pretty, yet tough enough to negotiate business deals with music moguls. And their witty songs and sly music videos made it clear that they enjoyed a good sex life as much as any macho male rapper swaggering past a swimming pool full of groupies.
The original group consisted of Cheryl James (Salt), Sandra Denton (Pepa) and Latoya Hanson, who was replaced by Deidra Roper (DJ Spinderella). They first started performing together in 1985. But most fans remember the 1990s as their glory years. “Let’s Talk About Sex” hit the charts in 1990, followed by y 1993’s “Whatta Man” and “Shoop,” a girl-power view of good-looking ng men.
Perhaps the most significant element of the song was the singers’ ngers’ refusal to be shamed for fantasizing about male assets or making ing the daydream a reality. In one line, the singers even remind their audience ence that asking for a guy’s digits doesn’t make a woman a “ho.” Salt-N-Pepapa won the 1995 Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, up, the first female rappers to win a Grammy.
Donna Elle was a Chattanooga DJ spinning hip-hop and rap albumsums during the 1990s when Salt-N-Pepa music videos ruled MTV and VH1.
“I was a fan of Salt-N-Pepa and still am,” Elle says. “Salt-N-Pepa Pepa were rappers with class. They paved the way for artists like Nicki Minaj.” aj.”
By 2000, Salt decided to split. Religion had become central too her life, and she wanted to sing gospel. Pepa preferred the party- girl songs ngs that made them famous.
Legend has it both women were annoyed when conservativee critics accused their lyrics, especially the 1986 hit “Push It,” of describing X-rated sex.
“’Push It’ was their biggest hit, but that was the song they most hated on their track,” wrote ote MA Chadwick in response to a Times Free Press Facebook call for Salt-N-Pepa fans.
The women told Rolling Stone that the song was misinterpreted. It was supposed to satirize ze male grunting, orgasmic raps. Their manager had urged them to use the infamous ‘Push It’ refrain, n, which they thought was ridiculous. They injected the sarcastic “Oooh Baby Baby” as the response.
More recently, Salt-N-Pepa appeared in a Geico insurance commercial where they offered red the breathy advice to “Push It” to a guy trying to open a door and a man reaching for an elevator button.
The women have secured their place in rock history. In 2012, Rolling Stone ranked their 1986 debut, “Hot, Cool and Vicious,” No. 46 on its list of the 50 Greatest Albums by Female Rockers of All Time. They were right behind Taylor Swift and ahead of Lucinda Williams, a somewhat strange but ut good place to be.