Released: September 29, 1997

Featuring: Rufus Blaq

Songwriter: Sandra “Pepa” Denton Rufus Blaq Randy Muller Chad Elliott Al West Cheryl “Salt” James

Producer: Cheryl “Salt” James Chad Elliott Al West

[Intro: Salt]
Are you ready?
Pump, pump, let me see you jump
Shake your rump, push it real good
Break it down with the funk
One love, like the LB say, right, right
Music Makes Us High

[Verse 1: Salt]
But you've been giving shade
'Cause I stay paid, sippin' lemonade
Don't be mad 'cause I got it made
Diva-hatin', waitin' snake in the grass
Look me up and down when I pass with ya sneaky ass
Vibin' with your girlfriends
Jealous of my dividends and my Benz, and my ends
Like no other, butter smooth like cream
I keep in milky when I movess on the scene
Got you fiending, on lockdown, can't you tell?
Never fell, black queens doing it well
We be the crew that you wanna step to
Sisters with an attitude (uh), now how my mic sounds?

[Chorus]
My mic sound nice
Check one, check two
Everybody make way
Party people coming through
Throw your hands up, put 'em up
Bounce, hold steady, are you ready?
My mic sound nice
Check one, check two
Everybody make way
Party people coming through
Throw your hands up, put 'em up
Bounce, hold steady, are you ready?

[Verse 2: Salt]
We make you burn with the hot track
Spin and scratch the hot wax
So I could grab the microphone and climax
Bars stay lean and cream keep stacking
Dr. Suess cracking the beats with no slacking
So move with the groove, makes your knees weaker
Salt-N-Pepa coming through your speaker
Hot blazing, so amazing, 150 proof raisin' the roof
Who got the juice now?
Yeah, poppa, I'm gonna break you off something proper
Showstopper like Frankie Crocker
Female phenomenon, when you get off, then put me on
Miss Jiggy, hell yeah, huh, the bomb digi
Microphone check one, two, brand new coming through
You know how we do, stay on point like a needle
Who are you to judge like Ito?
Recognize Salt-N-Pep's stello

[Chorus]
My mic sound nice
Check one, check two
Everybody make way
Party people coming through
Throw your hands up, put 'em up
Bounce, hold steady, are you ready?
My mic sound nice
Check one, check two
Everybody make way
Party people coming through
Throw your hands up, put 'em up
Bounce, hold steady, are you ready?

[Verse 3: Rufus Blaq]
I'm about to make the whole world bounce
Make it freaky 'til you're drippin'
Salt-N-Peppa got me in the VI sippin'
On the dance floor, nonstop how we movin' in
Game so tight, lubrication couldn't loosen it
B.L.A.Q the bomb
Y'all know Chi-Ca, Chi-Co who matching my flow
Shake what your momma created until it hurt ya
Daddy came to freak it down
And work ya, what time is it?

[Verse 4: Pepa]
P to the E to the P to the A
Lay my game down precise like every day
Display many styles for years I've been here
Iced out sex appeal I put your lights out
Pull your mics out, we rock the party
Freak your body, no need for a shottie
I'm gonna make you sweat all night, hold tight
All heads turn when I snatch the mic
Send the party into orbit
Coppin' drop tops 'cause I can afford it
Ain't nothing, party over here
What you doing on the other side?
We came here to get live, take a ride
With the S and the P, hey, pep mc
Shine every time just like the Lex be
You wanna test me, don't floss
We got the flow tha'll break you off
Decent, leave you locked like the precinct
How we get down worldwide
Everybody know about the sound
Let it pound in your system one time
All up in your mind how we shine? Genuine

[Chorus]
My mic sound nice
Check one, check two
Everybody make way
Party people coming through
Throw your hands up, put 'em up
Bounce, hold steady, are you ready?
My mic sound nice
Check one, check two
Everybody make way
Party people coming through
Throw your hands up, put 'em up
Bounce, hold steady, are you ready?
My mic sound nice
Check one, check two
Everybody make way
Party people coming through
Throw your hands up, put 'em up
Bounce, hold steady, are you ready?
My mic sound nice
Check one, check two
Everybody make way
Party people coming through
Throw your hands up, put 'em up
Bounce, hold steady, are you ready?

Salt-N-Pepa

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.