Pop Shop Podcast: Salt-N-Pepa Talk 30th Anniversary on the Charts & ‘Demand’ for New Music; Plus DJ Khaled’s First Hot 100 No. 1

Keith Caulfield
·3 min read
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Welcome to the new episode of the Billboard.com Pop Shop Podcast, Billboard’s weekly audio breakdown of the Billboard charts, hottest music news and year’s biggest musical events. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard co-director of charts Keith Caulfield and Billboard.com senior editor Katie Atkinson every Tuesday on the Pop Shop Podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in iTunes (click here to listen to the previous Tuesday’s edition of the show on Billboard.com).

On our latest show, we’re joined by Sandra “Pepa” Denton and Dee Dee “DJ Spinderella” Roper of Salt-N-Pepa! We caught up with two-thirds of the Grammy Award-winning hip-hop trio (which also includes Cheryl “Salt” James) to reflect on the 30th anniversary of Salt-N-Pepa’s debut on Billboard’s charts, their current run on the multi-act I Love the ’90s Tour, how there’s hope of new music from the group in the future and more.

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The act — which last released a studio album in 1997 — will headline the nostalgia-driven I Love the ‘90s Tour for most of 2017. However, new music from Salt-N-Pepa is in the works, according to Pepa and Spinderella.

“Yeah, we’re going in the studio,” Pepa tells Billboard. “We have a couple songs already we’ve recorded.”

“One thing about us is we’re perfectionists,” says Spinderella, “and we know that there’s a demand, but when we do it, it’s gotta be comfortable for us. We know that we’re gonna do it, and once we do it, it’s gonna be right.”

As Salt-N-Pepa, the group made its Billboard chart debut back in March of 1987 with the bow of “My Mike Sounds Nice” on what is now called the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart. (Fun fact: before Salt and Pepa became Salt-N-Pepa, the duo released the single “The Show Stoppa” under the name Super Nature. The track peaked at No. 46 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in November of 1985.)

Salt-N-Pepa would later score hits on numerous charts with songs like “Push It,” “Shoop,” “Expression,” “Whatta Man” (featuring En Vogue), “Let’s Talk About Sex” and more. The group jumped back onto the charts in 2016 after “Shoop” was used in the hit film Deadpool. Following the movie’s premiere, the song reached the top 20 on both the R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales and Rap Digital Song Sales charts.

Pepa says it’s great to know that their music has been embraced by fans across generations —  from “Shoop’s” use in Deadpool to the act’s starring role in a “Push It”-soundtracked Geico commercial and beyond. “A lot of our fans, they always say Salt-N-Pepa and Spinderella was the soundtrack to their lives… We’re just not going anywhere. Our songs are here to stay.”

Also on the podcast, we discuss Harry Styles‘ new video for “Sign of the Times,” Miley Cyrus‘ upcoming new music, and how Nicki Minaj is helping fans pay for college. Plus, we’ve got chart chat about DJ Khaled earning his first No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with “I’m the One,” how the 84-year-old Willie Nelson beats his own record as the oldest performer with a No. 1 on the Top Country Albums chart, and more.

Listen above and click here to subscribe/rate the Pop Shop Podcast on iTunes.

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