Salt-N-Pepa

Released: July 26, 1988

Featuring: E.U.

Songwriter: Herby “Luvbug” Azor

Producer: Herby “Luvbug” Azor

[Ow, shake it!

Yeah, oh, you're lookin' sweet, baby

Yes, indeedy

Funky (get down)]

We was on a dancefloor shakin' our thing

To a funky beat with a go-go swing

Everyone was watching, they stared in shock

Amazed at how Salt and Pepa was rock-

In the place with a smile on my face

Some got upset and then tried to base

They called us nasty, said we danced dirty

Claimed we were freaks, cheap, even flirty

Pepa got pissed and pulled out a pump

I was all set not to jet but to jump

Spin broke it up and asked not to break

Said, "They don't understand the way you..."

CHORUS

Shake your thang, owww

Do what you wanna do

I can't tell you how to catch a groove

It's your thang (It's your thing)

Do what you wanna do

I won't tell you who to sock it to

Shake that thing, c'mon, y'all, shake it

We could get loose, but we can't get naked

It's not a crime, it's legal, we answered

Look again - see? We're just dancin'

Relax a bit, now ain't that better?

I think it's time for you to get a...

Partner, doe-see, gather in closely

I wanna see the ones that mostly

Front on a cutie, hope you're not fruity

Do your duty and...

CHORUS

Come on, y'all, shake that thing

You got to just show no shame

I want you to shake that thing

Come on, y'all, show no shame

Shake your thang, yeah yeah

Oh, you're lookin' sweet, baby

Owww, I won't tell you how to catch a groove

It's my thing, and I'll swing it the way that I feel

With a little seduction and some sex appeal

It's Friday night, and I just got paid

I'm checking out the fella with the high-top fade

Moving in closely, ready for the kill

Steppin' on a dancefloor, think you're ill

But if I guy touch my body I just put him in check

I said, "We just met", "We can't do that yet"

I'm not a pick-up (no), this ain't a stick up (boy)

I'm not stuck up (yeah), and turn to kick up

And just rock, baby-pop, don't stop

Stick out your butt, and shake what you got

CHORUS

Oooo, I like hip-hop mixin' with go-go, baby

It's my thing, and I shake it crazy

Don't try and tell me how to party

It's my dance, yup, and it's my body

The shirt I wear may be low cut

My jeans fit nice, it shows off my butt

Designer down from head to toe

Oooo, my hair, neck, and fingers is crazy-glow

Now please stop blushin', we're just dancing, dummy

C'mon, we both know I don't want you for your money

Cuz we like to rap so we always rhyme

I like to dance, oooo, and I like to grind

I like this song, I like this beat

I'll see you later, where shall we...

CHORUS

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)

Salt-N-Pepa popular songs

A Salt With a Deadly PepaSalt-N-Pepa

Salt-N-Pepa

A Salt With a Deadly Pepa