Salt-N-Pepa

Released: July 26, 1988

Songwriter: Herby “Luvbug” Azor Joe Tex

Producer: Herby “Luvbug” Azor

You told me today that you quit your girlfriend
I'd be the next one to ease on in
You promised me it would be just us two
I'd be the only girl kissin' on you
Now you got a girl, but you still want me
Remember nothing in life is free
If you want your cake and eat it too
Come here, boy, let me show you what to do

Why don't you just kiss me
Hold it a long time
Hold it, don't turn it loose now
Hold it a little bit longer now
Hold it, go, hold it, yeah
Now ease up off me and get back

You made me a deal, and you're gonna stick to it
You shouldn't have promised if you wasn't gonna do it
You saw me and ran in another direction
I'll teach you to play with my affection
I played mistress for too long
Now your butt is mine plus your old girl's gone
Gimme with your all, and don't try to front
So don't act dumb, boy, you know what I want

Come on now, give it here
You never should have promised to me
Give it here, don't say nothin'
Just give it here, don't hold back now
Give it here, go

Yeah, the boy tried to flip on us, Pep
Yeah, well put him in check!

I've got ya now, and I ain't lettin' go
Payday's now cuz I said so
Forget about all the other girls cuz ya can't have none
Cuz it's time to collect not a check but fun

I want you to kiss me
Hold it a long time
Hold it, don't turn it loose now
Hold it a little bit longer now
Hold it, go, hold it, yeah
Hold it, ow
Now ease up off me and get back

Salt-N-Pepa is arguably the most successful female rap group of all time. The group began with Cheryl “Salt” James and Sandra “Pepa” Denton meeting while studying to be nurses. James got Denton a job at a Sears department store, where her boyfriend Hurby “Luv Bug” Azor also worked. Azor was studying music production and he asked them to help on a school project, an answer record to Doug E. Fresh’s “The Show” they named “The Showstopper” – recorded in 1985 under the name Supernature.

After the legendary Queens DJ Marley Marl played “The Showstopper” on his radio show, the group began getting booked for shows. One lyric in “The Showstopper” was ‘We the salt and pepper’, and people kept requesting ‘that salt and pepper song’, so they changed their name to Salt-N-Pepa. Deejay Deidra “Spinderella” Ropa was added soon after.

SNP’s debut album Hot, Cool, & Vicious originally spawned a minor hit in the UK with “My Mike Sounds Nice” in early 1987. But it was the re-release of a remix of “Push It”, originally a quickly-thrown together b-side for their fall ‘87 single “Tramp”, that shot the group into international stardom. The song reached the top 10 in eleven countries around the world in 1988.

more tracks from the album

A Salt With a Deadly Pepa

From the album

A Salt With a Deadly Pepa (1988)

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Salt-N-Pepa

A Salt With a Deadly Pepa