Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of Salt-N-Pepa’s ‘Blacks’ Magic’

The ladies of Salt-N-Pepa; Cheryl James and Sandy Denton (“Salt” and “Pepa”) and Deidre “Dee Dee” Roper (DJ Spinderella). Debuted with “The Show Stopper“, a response record to Doug E. Fresh & Slick Rick‘s “The Show“. It was an underground hit and Salt-N-Pepa signed to Next Plateau Records.

Their debut album “Hot, Cool & Vicious” was released in 1986, which was produced by Salt‘s then-boyfriend, Hurby Azor, the group’s manager at the time.

“Hot, Cool & Vicious” received little attention until a San Francisco DJ named Cameron Paul created a remix of “Push It” (The b-side to “Tramp”). Mr. Paul‘s remix of “Push It“, re-released as a single, quickly became a national hit and was nominated for a Grammy, pushing both the single and album to Platinum album status.

They released “A Salt With a Deadly Pepa,” which featured “Shake Your Thang” feat. E.U.

However it was their third album, the platinum plus “Black’s Magic,” which expanded Salt-N-Pepa‘s fanbase among hip hop fans influencing more R&B. It was also the first album to feature Spinderella on vocals and DJ’ing The album was released 30 years ago today on March 19th, 1990.

Prior to the release of their third album, Salt-N-Pepa were viewed as little more than pop crossover artists. Most of their singles had been rap remakes of old R&B songs, and they hadn’t even rapped all that much on their biggest hit “Push It.”

“Black’s Magic” is where Salt-N-Pepa came into their own! With Salt producing four tracks and Spinderella produced one. It wasn’t that their crossover appeal diminished, but this time they worked from a funkier R&B base that brought them more credibility among Hip-Hop and urban audiences. With influences of Jimi Hendrix and Billie Holiday in the mix and cover art.

More importantly, they displayed a stronger group identity than ever before, projecting a mix of sassy, self-confident feminism and aggressive – but responsible; sexuality.

The album featured the hit singles “Expression,” “Independent”, “Do You Want Me ” and “You Showed Me” and the certified gold safe sex anthem “Let’s Talk About Sex,” the project summed up this new attitude and got the group plastered all over MTV.

But there was more to the album than just the singles. Track by Track, “Black’s Magic” was the strongest record Salt-N-Pepa had ever released. The addressed the copy cats, which had came along since the success of “Push It” in the “Expression” visual with the line;
will the real Salt-N-Pepa please stand.”

Other hard topics included verses about self-esteem, predatory males and loveless relationships.

“Black’s Magic” successfully remade Salt-N-Pepa as their own women and pointed the way to the even more commercially successful R&B/Pop/Hip Hop follow-up “Very Necessary.”

Take a trip down memory lane and help us celebrate the 30th Anniversary of “Black’s Magic.”