Salt-n-Pepa is a Grammy-Award Winning American hip hop group from Queens, New York that came into the music scene in 1985 and went on to sell over 13 million albums and singles according to RIAA.com. They are the top selling female rap act, consisting of the lineup of: Cheryl James, now known as Cheryl Wray, and Sandra Denton ("Salt" and "Pepa", respectively), and the group's DJ, Deidra "Dee Dee" Roper (Spinderella).
Originally calling themselves Supernature (for just the first single), James and Denton debuted in 1985 on the small Pop Art record label with the single "The Show Stopper", an answer record to Doug E. Fresh's hit record "The Show". "The Show Stopper" was produced by Hurby Azor (who had to do it as a school project) and utilized a melody from the 1985 hit movie "Revenge of the Nerds." It garnered play on many urban stations and became a modest R&B hit. With this success, James and Denton changed the group's name to Salt-N-Pepa (which they had called themselves in the first verse of the song) and signed to Next Plateau Records. Their 1986 debut album, Hot, Cool & Vicious, was also produced by Salt's then-boyfriend Hurby "Luv Bug" Azor (also the group's manager); he received songwriting credit for the album that was later disputed. It also featured DJ Latoya Hanson as the original Spinderella. She appears on the group's first album cover with James and Denton but appears in none of the music videos as she would soon be replaced by Roper, who would keep the name Spinderella.
