Salt-N-Pepa

Featuring: Sybil

Songwriter: Sandra “Pepa” Denton Cheryl “Salt” James

Producer: Herby “Luvbug” Azor Cheryl “Salt” James

[Verse 1:]
(Yawn) You're sleepy, go to bed
Wanna step? Go ahead and jet
Now wake up from your dreamin'
Cuz you're dealin' with the Pep
Like Oakley from the Knicks, yes, I'm havin' a ball
You think because you're leaving that I'm gonna take a fall?
It was small thing, oooo, it was really too small
Livin' large, boy, standing ten feet tall
Now my heart won't dent, keep the money I lent
And don't forget I pay the rent, this is my apartment
I'm independent, punk
Your lovin' stunk
This is independent funk and
And I'm gettin' ready for the year 2000
Independent - yes, I'm housin'
Independent - yeah, now watch me
Independent - no one can stop me

[Chorus:]
Woman and I am independent
I make my own money so don't tell me how to spend it
Cuz you need me, and I don't need you
So listen close, boy, to my independent funk
Yeah, can you feel it?
Yes, it's my, it's my independent funk

[Verse 2:]
Salty the V.I.P., you should have stuck with me
What are you stupid? Huh, my pockets run deep
So flex the Rolex and the sex that I gave ya
In jail with no bail and now nothin' can save ya
You want me to visit? I ain't with it lizard
We had magic now ya lost without the love wizard
When duty call, believe the Pep come hard
Try to dis my girl Salt, up goes my guard
Still feminine, feminine still, yes
But then next pump a hundred weight bench press
So what it mean, Pep? I'm not impressed
Cuz I wear the pants, and you wear the dress
Ya had to cross me, and now you lost me
Get off me softy, I'm the boss, see?
You can't disguise the lies in your eyes - you're not a heartbreaker
You're a fraud, and I'm bored - you're a fake faker
It's too late to debate with the moneymaker
After while, crackhead - see ya later, gator

[Repeat Chorus]

[Verse 3:]
No, no, no more nookie for you cuz I gave ya the boot
Go ahead and go in your Yugo, gonna miss the Benz Coupe
You're a baby so maybe you just needed a babysitter
Bitter? I figure I'm rid of a piece of litter
Tiger, tigger, I bounce back, and you're a quitter
Your girl is gone for good so just forget her
You're blind, you'll never find another better
Your mind stays on her behind in a tight sweater
Burned your flowers and your love letters
Never a tear will I shed
I'm independent

[Repeat Chorus]

So funky
So funky
So funky
It's just an independent funk
So funky
So funky
So funky
It's just an independent funk

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

Greatest Hits

From the album

Greatest Hits (1991)

Salt-N-Pepa popular songs

Independent (Independent Funk Vocal)Salt-N-Pepa

Salt-N-Pepa

Greatest Hits