Pick a Day

Cheryl James (aka Salt of Salt-N-Pepa) is born in Brooklyn, New York City. She meets her future rap partner, Sandra "Pepa" Denton, while working at a Sears call center. The pair, along with Deidra "DJ Spinderella" Roper, challenge the male-dominated hip-hop genre with outspoken lyrics that embrace female sexuality in "Let's Talk About Sex" and "None Of Your Business."

Sandra Denton (aka Pepa of Salt-N-Pepa) is born in Kingston, Jamaica. She spends her childhood in Queens, New York, and Logan, Utah. She meets Cheryl "Salt" James, a fellow nursing student, while they both work as customer service reps at Sears. Their big breakthrough is "Push It," a hip-hop club banger that everyone thinks is about sex but is really about dancing.

Salt-N-Pepa release their debut album, Hot, Cool & Vicious, which makes history as the first female rap album to achieve gold and platinum status in the US. Along with Cheryl "Salt" James and Sandra "Pepa" Denton, Latoya Hanson appears on the cover art as the original DJ Spinderella. She was ousted during the making of the album and replaced by high schooler Deidra Roper.

Salt-N-Pepa enter the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time when their steamy hip-hop/dance single "Push It" peaks at #19. Everyone assumes the song - punctuated by the refrain "Ooh, baby, baby" - is about sex, but the rappers insist it's not. "No one ever believes us," Sandra "Pepa" Denton laments to The Guardian in 2017. "Honestly, for us, as young girls, it was about dancing."

Salt-N-Pepa become the first female rap group to win a Grammy Award when "None Of Your Business," a no-nonsense anthem about women's sex lives, is named Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group. They perform the song, which is from their multi-platinum 1993 album, Very Necessary, at the ceremony, along with "Whatta Man."

Sandra Denton (aka Pepa of Salt-N-Pepa) gives birth to a daughter named Egypt. The father is Naughty by Nature rapper Treach.

The rapper Treach (Anthony Criss) from Naughty by Nature ("O.P.P.") marries Pepa (Sandra Denton) of Salt-N-Pepa in a ceremony officiated by Reverend Run of Run-D.M.C., who says it's the first time a rapper has married two rappers. Among the guests are Salt, Queen Latifah and Vivica A. Fox. The couple divorce in 2001, with Pepa alleging abuse.

Sotheby's holds the first-ever auction of hip-hop memorabilia, which includes a set of Tupac Shakur's love letters ($75,600), Slick Rick's eye patch ($25,200), and Salt-N-Pepa's jackets ($23,940). The marquee item is the plastic crown Notorious B.I.G. wore on his last photo shoot, which sells for $594,750.

Salt-N-Pepa, who earned a reputation as The First Ladies Of Rap for hits like "Push It," "Shoop," and "Let's Talk About Sex," are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Deidra "DJ Spinderella" Roper, who joined the group while she was still in high school, is the first DJ to ever enter the Hall.