![]() The man is strong, domineering, and the lover of one of them. They work hard, and finally become famous under the tutelage of a Svengali-like figure. Two girls from Queens dream of success in show business. In many ways, the Salt-N-Pepa story is an archetypal one. The group’s recent single, “Shoop,” taken from the new album Very Necessary, was released thirteen weeks ago. Then, in 1991, came “Let’s Talk About Sex” (“Let’s talk about sex, babe/ Let’s talk about you and me”), which sold more than 1 million copies. In 1987, they had their first hit single, “Push It” (as in “push it real good”). Salt-N-Pepa are the only female rap group to sell more than 1 million copies and go platinum. But they are probably somewhere in their mid- to late twenties-positively ancient for rap stars. The members won’t give their ages: “Salt-N-Pepa keep the mystery,” says Denton. But Salt-N-Pepa have been performing for more than eight years. They usually glimmer and fade in a year or two. The artistic life of most rap stars is very brief. The video also ties up-and gags-their producer and manager, Hurby “Luv Bag” Azor, the man who, in real life, broke James’s heart. In the video of “Let’s Talk About Sex,” James and Denton dress up as construction workers-ogling guys and grabbing themselves between the legs. In their hit single “Tramp,” it is the man who is the tramp. In Salt-N-Pepa raps, the women are in control. TLC wear their baggy clothes as a statement, but Salt-N-Pepa flaunt their figures. Unlike, say, Queen Latifah or the women of TLC, Salt-N-Pepa don’t hesitate to put men down. And indeed, in their lyrics and videos, Salt-N-Pepa mock the macho posturing of male rappers. “We try to tell women not to give rappers so much to talk about,” Denton adds. Her own lyrics, however, are not always upright. But I also understand that gangstas are dealing with reality in their lyrics.” I would be furious if my child listened to them. “I grew up in the ghetto, but my heart isn’t hard. James believes the charges against Shakur were “fabricated.” But she says gangsta is not for her. What’s more, the gangsta rapper Tupac Shakur has been indicted for “deviate sexual intercourse by forcible compulsion.” Shakur, a friend of Salt-N-Pepa’s, appears in their new video. 1 rap hit last week was Snoop Doggy Dogg’s “What’s My Name.” “If you don’t give a f- about a bitch/ Then you’re rolling with the Row,” it says. While gangsta rap spins violent odes and misogynistic threats, Salt-N-Pepa celebrate female independence, female sexuality, and-yes-motherhood. “A good man says he loves me,” James says. A good man takes his time when he makes love. (Part of Naughty by Nature, Treach once came onstage at Radio City wielding a chain saw.) Then there’s Spinderella (Dee Roper), the group’s D.J., who lies on a bearskin rug, in black lace.Ī good man, Spin raps, “touch me in the right spot.” Salt-N-Pepa, it seems, have at last discovered what a good man really is. Pepa (Sandi Denton) rubs her hands over the oiled body of Treach, her real-life rapper boyfriend. “I wanna take a minute or two and give much respect to/ The man that’s made a difference in my world,” raps Salt (Cheryl James), the group’s founding member, wearing a pair of denim shorts undone at the waist. In the video of their single “Whatta Man,” made with the group En Vogue and released this week, Salt-N-Pepa have a warmth and sexual heat that make Madonna seem contrived and mechanical. Whatta man, whatta man, whatta man, whatta mighty good man! Salt-N-Pepa, the world’s top female rap group, have fallen in love again. Guys have hurt them, but they have found better ones. They have had babies. They have been to the gym. They are sleek and muscled and beautiful. And they are still doing the things your mother taught you not to-wearing tight clothes, wiggling their bodies, showing their underwear. *From the Januissue of New York Magazine. ![]()
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