Salt-N-Pepa’s Cheryl James says she was asked to get an abortion early in career
Salt-N-Pepa dropped a bomb on Tuesday’s episode of “Tamron Hall,” and this one is for the fly mothers.
While the episode was dedicated to celebrating 50 years of hip-hop — and specifically the pioneering female group that started when hip-hop was seen as perhaps a fad instead of a genre — the hourlong interview revealed the many ways that Salt-N-Pepa struggled as women on the rise.
From fighting with record execs for “Shoop,” the song they knew would be a hit, to rejecting industry norms when it came to motherhood, the rap duo credit their success to remaining true to who they are.
“We knew as women in this business that we were gonna be standing up against some amazing men who control this industry and we always had to bring it hard,” Cheryl “Salt” James said.
Hall asked the “Push It” rappers what it was like being told that they couldn’t have both motherhood and a career, noting that even now women in the industry are told they can’t have it all.
New Kids on the Block team up with their MixTape Tour pals Salt-N-Pepa, Rick Astley and En Vogue for nostalgic bop in the video for ‘Bring Back the Time.’
“They still sayin’ that?” Sandra “Pepa” Denton joked.
“And that was why we are true to who we are,” she continued. “They could recognize! ’Cause we wanted to be moms and we was moms. We said, ‘We can do it,’ and whatever came my way, I handled it, which was taking the good with the bad … ’cause someone has to do it! When they think it can’t, they panic, the labels and people. ‘Oh my God, how are you gonna? The sales! Sales, sales!’ But you know, we did it.”
James then revealed the disappointing response to her pregnancy. “They [the record labels] do get scared,” she said. “I was actually — I don’t think I’ve ever said this out loud — but I was asked to have an abortion. I won’t say by who, but to your point, yeah, you just have to know that it’s something that you’re capable of handling, if you want a kid and you want to have a career, and it’s definitely harder.
“Having my daughter was, besides finding Jesus, was the best thing that I’ve ever experienced. ... I needed that little baby in my life. You know, she kept me company on the road.”
M ove over “knockin’ da boots” and “hittin’ the skins”--Salt-N-Pepa has given us a new hip-hop term for sex.
Salt-N-Pepa was the first female rap group to go platinum. The duo was honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021, proving that motherhood and superstardom can and do go hand-in-hand. “We had bassinets in the back of the tour bus,” James said. They also brought nannies on the road with them as well as the curriculum needed for homeschooling.
Denton proudly referred to herself as a “Glamma” during the chat as a photo of her grandchild flashed across the screen.
And James said now that she’s in her mid-50s, she’s “living a whole ’nother kind of vibe.”
“I’m lovin’ on me so good,” she continued before referencing her 2018 divorce. “Love yourself is really cliché, but there’s so many levels to learning what that means. ... You have the ability to validate yourself.”
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