Throwback: Happy 56th Birthday, Pepa!

At this point, we’ve made it through about 90% of the year. It’s been a brutal soul-sucking slog of a year hasn’t it? But the show must go on as they say. 

So, November is a busy month of music birthdays. 

• Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ frontman Anthony Kiedis celebrated his 63rd birthday on November 1
• Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen celebrated his 62nd birthday on November 1
• Mobb Deep’s Prodigy  was born 51 years ago on November 2
• ONYX’s Sticky Fingaz celebrated his 52nd birthday on November 3 
• Radiohead‘s and The Smile‘s Jonny Greenwood celebrated his 54th birthday on November 5
• Bryan Adams celebrated his 66th birthday on November 5
• The Screaming Eagle of Soul, Charles Bradley was born 77 years ago on November 5
• Living Colour‘s powerhouse frontman Corey Glover celebrated his 61st birthday on November 6
• Bad Religion frontman Dr. Greg Graffin celebrated his 61st birthday on November 6 
• The Eagles‘ Glenn Frey was born 77 years ago on November 6
• The incomparable and legendary Joni Mitchell celebrated her 82nd birthday on November 7

 Salt-N-Pepa‘s Sandra “Pepa” Denton celebrates her 56th birthday today.

Salt-N-Pepa’s full-length debut, 1986’s Hot Cool & Vicious sold over one million copies domestically, making them the first female rap act to achieve gold and platinum status by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). 1987’s “Push It,” the act’s signature song peaked within the Top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100. 

Their sophomore album, 1988’s A Salt with a Deadly Pepa was certified gold by the RIAA. Their third album, 1990’s Blacks’ Magic featured “Expression,” and arguably one of that decade’s biggest hits “Let’s Talk About Sex.” 

1993’s Very Necessary, which featured the smash hits “Shoop” and “Whatta Man” feat. En Vogue sold over 7 million copies globally — with 5 million domestically. The album was the highest-selling rap album by a female act — either solo or group — in history at the time. 

In 1995, they won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for “None of Your Business,” which made them one of the first female rap acts to win a Grammy Award, along with Queen Latifah, who won a Grammy at the same ceremony. 

Globally, they’ve sold over 15 million records globally, which makes them one of the best-selling rap acts ever. And without them, many of the most successful, contemporary female artists wouldn’t have careers. So we all owe Salt, Pepa and DJ Spinderella an enormous debt of gratitude. 

Happy belated birthday, Pepa!

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