They’re not on the first list of Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony performers and presenters, but Salt-N-Pepa — which will be receiving a musical influence award — will definitely be in the house.
“Oh yes,” Cheryl “Salt” James tells Billboard. “I don’t want to give it away, (but) we have been having creative calls with choreographers, with people at the Rock Hall, with the music people, and it’s been really fun figuring it out.” And, James adds, it will be the whole of Salt-N-Pepa, meaning formerly estranged DJ Spinderella (Deidra Roper) will be joining Salt and Sandra “Pepa” Denton on Nov. 8 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, streamed live on Disney+.
“The whole Spin situation is so long over,” says Salt. Spinderella, who joined the rap group during 1986, was fired during 2019 just as Salt-N-Pepa began a run on New Kids on the Block’s Mixtape Tour. “We have reconciled. We’re good. We’ve had hard conversations. We’ve cleared up misunderstandings. So let’s dead that to everybody. Spin was at the (Hollywood) Walk of Fame (in 2022). We’ve performed together. It’s, like, so old — please, chill out….”
It’s not surprising, then, that Salt-N-Pepa is feeling nothing but positive about the impeding Rock Hall honor.
“I feel like we’ve gotten all the things now,” James says. “We have our Walk of Fame, our Lifetime Achievement Award from the Grammys, every award in-between, from MTV to you name it. So this is the last big one, I guess, and we’re very, very excited. It’s kind of like what you want in your career; you want longevity, you want recognition, and the fact that everybody’s representing Salt-N-Pepa’s contribution to music is perfection to me at this point in my life. A lot of people are saying ‘long overdue.’ I say it’s right on time.”
Formed during 1985 in New York City, Salt-N-Pepa was the first female rap act to score a gold and platinum album (with its 1986 debut Hot, Cool & Vicious). In 1995, Salt-N-Pepa and Queen Latifah became the first female rap acts to win Grammys — Salt-N-Pepa for “None of Your Business” and Latifah for “U.N.I.T.Y.” “None of Your Business” hailed from 1993’s quadruple-platinum Very Necessary, which also launched the Billboard Hot 100 top 5 hits “Shoop” and, with En Vogue, “Whatta Man.”
“In the beginning, I just knew Salt-N-Pepa was gonna be something bigger than me,” Salt says. “I don’t know why I knew that, but because I had that vibration of believing as much as I did, it propelled me forward: ‘This is what I’m born to do. This is my destiny.’ That’s how I thought about it.” She acknowledges that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame “was definitely something I never thought about. I haven’t actually paid attention — when Missy (Elliott) got in, of course. When Public Enemy did, of course, and when people started saying, ‘You guys need to be in the Rock Hall!’ Then a few artists — like, shout-out to Chuck D — actively campaigned to get us in there.”
Salt is particularly happy that Salt-N-Pepa is being honored alongside “our brothers Outkast” — who she recalls presenting one of its first BET Awards — and “my good friend Cyndi Lauper, who I adore.”
She says the duo is also proud of being honored in the musical influence category but confesses that, “I’m pretty sure we weren’t actively thinking of how we were gonna impact people when we first started. We just wanted to be artists…I think part of our longevity is our authenticity, and that we just organically came together as friends. We say we brought fun, fashion and femininity to hip-hop. We weren’t afraid to be feminine; the men were being pretty hardcore, but we were just some round-the-way chicks that other girls related to, and it just took off. It still mind-screws me, though. Like, there’s Cheryl, and there’s Salt; Cheryl’s like, ‘Wow, Salt, girl, you did THAT! How did you do that?’ But I am at the place now where I think I’m just starting to receive the magnitude of what Salt-N-Pepa have accomplished and what we’ve meant and…being able to celebrate that.”
Salt-N-Pepa hasn’t released an album since 1997’s Brand New, or fresh material since a couple of new tracks for The Best of Salt-N-Pepa two years later. But Salt says some things might be shaking for her and Pepa in the wake of the Rock Hall honor. “There’s some talk about us possibly going on tour with Janet (Jackson). I hope that happens,” she says. “And you never know. After I put out some music and get my little independent blueprint worked out…maybe, yeah, Salt-N-Pepa might follow suit.”
Salt recently released a solo single, “Chosen,” and has another, “Kings and Queens,” due out on Nov. 21. Both are slated for an album, Salty and Lit, that’s due out next year and shares a title with a podcast she’s launching with daughter Corin Wray. “I love being in the studio,” she says. “I’ve got, like, 14 songs, still making more. I’m so inspired. My goal is to bring positive vibes to hip-hop without being preachy or judgmental, and the music being fire. It’s like a breath of fresh air, so refreshing. There’s no cursing. You’re not rapping about your hooty cat. It’s just a celebration.”
