1991 flashback: Hear candid talk about female rappers, obscenity, sexism, and more with Salt-N-Pepa, 2025's newest members of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
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When I interviewed Salt-N-Pepa for my 1992 book Break It Down, they were among the most successful rappers on the planet. One platinum album and another coming soon. Sell-out concerts around the world.
But did I include them on my list of the top 5 hip-hop groups? Nope.
Oops. That was a mistake. Now that Salt-N-Pepa are getting inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, it's clear that they changed everything. With their DJ Spinderella and their producer Hurby Love Bug, they helped push hip-hop into the pop charts, where we've heard it ever since.
If you missed "Shoop," "Push It," "Whatta Man," "Let's Talk about Sex" and other Salt-N-Pepa hits – or if you still love those songs – here's some good news: I saved my audio tapes for 34 years. Now you can listen to my never-heard interviews, as Salt (Cheryl James) and Pepa (Sandra Denton) talk about their music, their private lives, and share their thoughts about sex, pregnancy, AIDS, abortion, friendship, and on and on.
To give some perspective to Salt-N-Pepa's 1991 thoughts, I'm joined by Clover Hope, author of the 2021 book, The Motherlode, 100+ Women Who Made Hip-hop.
Not only does Clover help explain what Salt-N-Pepa contributed to our culture, she also helps me make the fateful decision: In my latest round of Swedish Death Cleaning, should I toss my Salt-N-Pepa possessions? Or should I keep them?
Of course, there's one gift from Salt-N-Pepa that I'll never lose – their famous song hooks that latch onto my brain: "Ah, push it! Push it real good!" "Shoop, shoop-a-doop, shoop-a-doopa-doopa-doop." Want to bounce to those and other songs we discuss? You'll find links at throwitoutpodcast.com.
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