Female Hip Hop Artists (Salt N Pepa)

AJ Vogt
Mar 14, 2016
2 min read

Female artists in Hip Hop music have had just as strong as an impact as any other artist and I think it is important to investigate some of the pioneers of females in hip hop.

Salt N Pepa is a trio from Queens, New York City. Cheryl James (Salt), Sandra Denton (Pepa) and Deidra Roper (DJ Spinderella) was formed in 1985, during the so called Golden Era of Hip Hop. Salt N Pepa were one of the first all female hip hop groups. Many feminists did not enjoy hip hop music because the lyrics were very sexist and the culture was very hyper masculine. Salt N Pepa would wear promiscuous clothing and even sing about sex, but in a different way than the all male groups.

Salt N Pepa released a total of five albums, the first in 1986. Throughout their career, as a group, they won 1 Grammy, 3 MTV VMAs and 1 BET Award. Hot Cool & Vicious was their first studio album and to many people's surprise the album went platinum and Salt N Pepa was the first female rap act (group or solo) to go platinum. Then, in 1993, their fourth studio album, Very Necessary, went multiplatinum making the group the first female rap act to go multip platinum.

Unfortunately, Salt N Pepa disbanded in 1999. Throughout their career they battled with their manager over unfair royality payments, and this is something many female artists struggling with, inside and outside of the hip hop genre. Many times, the struggles of the group were expressed in the lyrics of their songs. Fortunately, for Salt N Pepa fans, the group got back together and went on tour in 2011. Check out their inconic "Push It" song below.