“It was very ballsy for two women that nobody knew to do something like that!”Įventually, they recorded it again more professionally at Power Play Studios - and Azor took it to WBLS DJ Marley Marl who had a show World Famous Mr. “That was the best way for us as female rappers to get noticed, which was crazy for us to do because Doug and Slick Rick were the biggest thing ever and ‘The Show’ was the biggest song ever,” James told Vibe. Fresh - by starting with a bold response song, called “The Show Stoppa (Is Stupid Fresh).” At the time, rap was all about battles, so even though they were an all-female group trying to break into a male-dominated industry, they decided to take on some of the most established names - Slick Rick and Doug E. They went to Azor’s attic and Denton and James recorded their first track in 1985. I always wanted to, but I never did,” Denton told Rolling Stone. “I just had my little raps that I used to write, but I was nervous, I was scared. Fresh’s song “The Show Stoppa”Ĭlearly, Azor saw something in the girl in the nearby cubical, even though she had never seen it in herself. Their first track 'answered' Slick Rick and Doug E. Salt-N-Pepa, September 1988 Photo: Catherine McGann/Getty Images from coast to coast.” “That, to me, was an audition,” Denton said. That’s how I knew about rap.” But she went for it and showed what she had with a couple of lines like “I’m Sandy D. “I’ve never rapped in front of a crowd, ever in my life. His desk wasn’t too far from mine, his cubby hole,” she told the music magazine. “I remember him asking me, ‘Can you rhyme?’ … at work. He needed a group and thought Denton might be the perfect fit. “Hurby was a music student and he was always working on beats and music and he wanted to produce a song,” James told Rolling Stone in 2017. We always made each other laugh.”ĭuring a shift, James’ boyfriend at the time, Hurby Azor, had an idea. “Laughter was contagious when we were together. “It was that sense of humor that we both had,” James told Vibe. The two students soon took their friendship off-campus - and also became coworkers as part-time telephone operators for Sears, working alongside Martin Lawrence and Kid ‘n Play. Denton ‘auditioned’ for the group while working at Sears More than three decades after they formed, their music - including hits “Push It,” “Let’s Talk About Sex,” “Whatta Man” and “Shoop” - still hold their place in history as some of the most innovative and breakthrough sounds and lyrics of their time, and remain just as relevant today than ever before. It was the strength of that yin-and-yang relationship that turned the school friends into international sensation Salt-n-Pepa - the first female rappers to be certified platinum - thanks to the fearless way they dove into topics so seldom talked about at the time. Because we were polar opposites, we fascinated each other.” We’d just hang around in the lunchroom playing cards, and we formed this amazing friendship. “We were big time screw-ups,” James told The Guardian. When Cheryl James and Sandra Denton met as first-year students at Queensborough Community College, school was the last thing on their minds.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |