Remember when hip hop and rap were still a novelty in the mainstream? And when women in those circles could be counted on one hand? I mean, Salt N Pepa were two of the fingers on the one hand, you know what I mean?
SNP broke through at the end of the eighties but they were some of the original #90schicks. You couldn't escape them at one stage: Push It remains one of the best jams ever and for better or worse is amongst my most played songs on my iPod twenty+ years later.
their effect was quite different to that of the new round of acts- they were in uncharted territory so that worked for them and when they came to precedence they did so alongside Mony Love and Queen Latifah. They were sassy bad ass NYers but they quickly worked messages into their hits: remember when you couldn't avoid Lets talk about sex and then let's talk about AIDS and a million other variants on the same theme?
But seriously they were brill and had a knack of incorporating melodies into their hits- made the crossover easier and the hits seemed to come in continuation- fun, sassy hits with a sense of humour and deeply funky at the same time. No outright twerking for these little condiments. #90s twerking was for models and extras- not the main attraction. not wrapping it up in a feminism package. They just did their thang and were the kind of girls you got the feeling that blokes didn't get a free ride with. Equals.
And that's what separates SNP and the other #90schicks from the current crowd. That and those killer songs.
Very necessary: Shoop, Whattaman, You Showed Me
Should be dipped in gold and enshrined: Push It
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