TMZ<\/a> in August 2025 when Salt-N-Pepa were inducted into the Hall of Fame and she was excluded. \u201cWhat caused the split was a lot of internal, personal, female, catty jealously,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s the same thing as the Supremes \u2026 And Spinderella is my name. They took my name. Hurby may have given that name to Deidra, but he took it from me.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n\n\tWhatever the truth, Hurby was looking for a new DJ in 1987. Word got back to Roper, still in high school at the time. \u201cI had picked up some techniques from my boyfriend,\u201d she says. \u201cHe taught me backspinning, he taught me the breaks on the records. And I so phoned up Hurby and was like, \u2018Wait a minute. Salt-N-Pepa? The one that be on the radio, Salt-N-Pepa?’\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tDenton joined just in time to be in the \u201cPush It\u201d video, enraging her predecessor. \u201cI was hot [when I first saw it],\u201d Hanson told TMZ. \u201cI already knew it was coming, but I was hot. I was on fire.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tRoper, meanwhile, felt ostracized by her bandmates. \u201cThere was a lot of distance between us at first because I\u2019m younger,\u201d she says. \u201cThey would sit together, and they\u2019d be laughing and kicking, and I would be by myself. I made friends with everybody else on the bus until they eventually warmed up to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\")
<\/p>\n
\n\tWhen Roper saw the tensions flare up with Azor, she kept her head down. \u201cI minded my business,\u201d she says. \u201cMy responsibility was to take care of what I\u2019m supposed to take care of. Deal with this music, drop my cues, do these shows, be on time. I noticed the internal turmoil, but in the beginning I was just bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, trying to figure it all out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThe group rewarded her loyalty by featuring her on every album cover after she joined, posing with her on the cover of Rolling Stone, and presenting themselves as a trio most everywhere they went in public. \u201cWe didn\u2019t want to be like other artists who didn\u2019t highlight their DJ,\u201d says James. \u201cAnd so we made a conscious choice to bring her from behind the turntables, put her in the front, even give her a verse on a song or two, and really celebrate her. It gave the appearance of an equal trio because of the way we presented it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tOften, it was just that, an \u201cappearance.\u201d \u201cPep and I were friends, and we were partners for years before she came in,\u201d says James of Roper. \u201cWe had a whole career and another DJ. In me and Pep\u2019s mind, the partnership had always been Salt-N-Pepa, but I get that some people felt like it was a trio.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAt least in the public eye, things were harmonious within Salt-N-Pepa \u2014 but then Salt disbanded the group. At that point, all three women had to find their own way after years as a unit. Roper began hosting a radio show in L.A., James focused on her young family and solo music, and Denton did whatever she could to keep her name out there, including a role on VH1\u2019s Surreal Life where she shared a house with Jose Canseco and Omarosa Manigault. She also did a stint on The Surreal Life: The Fame Games, where she made it nearly to the end of the competition but was outmaneuvered by disgraced porn star Ron Jeremy and Baywatch actress Traci Bingham. \u201cThe only thing I regret is getting into other businesses I have no business being in,\u201d she says with a laugh, \u201clike real estate.\u201d (She also wrote a memoir, Let\u2019s Talk About Pep, where she detailed past relationships and her difficult marriage to Naughty By Nature rapper Antony \u201cTreach\u201d Criss.)<\/p>\n
\n\tThe only thing Denton didn\u2019t consider was making solo music. \u201cTo this day, I have never made a song without Salt besides one guest spot on a Missy Elliott album,\u201d she says. \u201cIf it ain\u2019t Salt-N-Pepa, it ain\u2019t nothing for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tDenton, Roper, and James pose at the Bayside Sound Recording Studios in the Bayside, Queens, neighborhood of New York City in 1989.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAl Pereira<\/p>\n
\n\tAfter about five years of inactivity, James started to feel differently about working with Denton again, especially after they were approached by VH1 about starring in a reality show where they could air out their differences. \u201cWe worked through some of our issues and even went through therapy together,\u201d James says. \u201cIt was very emotional.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThe show also gave Roper a chance to finally explain why she viewed herself as unequal. \u201c\u2019Do you consider me the \u2018N\u2019 in Salt-N-Pepa?’\u201d she asked her group mates during a tense sit-down caught on camera. They both told her they did not. \u201cI always see you as icing on the cake,\u201d James responded. \u201cMe and Sandy can still do a show, even if you don\u2019t show up.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThe women agreed to disagree but soldiered on as a trio for a few years, headlining throwback tours like I Love the 90s, where they shared the stage with Coolio and Vanilla Ice. But in 2019, when Salt-N-Pepa agreed to an arena package tour with New Kids on the Block, En Vogue, and Rick Astley, Spinderella wasn\u2019t invited. All signs point to a dispute over money.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cDespite my participation in promoting the tour and being highly publicized as one of the acts, in January 2019 I received a \u2018termination\u2019 email,\u201d Roper wrote to fans on Instagram. \u201cI refuse to participate in misleading fans, ticketholders, and others who \u2014 based on all the advertising \u2014 were anticipating seeing the iconic #SaltnPepa and #Spinderella trio.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tLater that year, Roper sued them over unpaid royalties, trademark infringement, fraud, and breach of contract. A judge threw out the case and sent them into mediation. \u201cSpin and her legal team adopted a scorched earth approach that brought unnecessary attention to a business dispute,\u201d James and Denton said in a group statement, \u201cthat all along could have, and should have, been settled amicably and privately.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tIt was the kind of nasty public battle that could have caused a permanent schism. And for a few years that seemed like the outcome as Salt-N-Pepa continued to perform only as a duo. But in October 2024, Pepa appeared onstage at Spinderella\u2019s Halloween Boo Bash and ran through \u201cPush It,\u201d \u201cShoop,\u201d and \u201cWhatta Man.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cA lot of people play divide-and-conquer in this business, and they get in people\u2019s heads and stop them from talking,\u201d says Denton. \u201cI finally got a chance to say, \u2018Let me talk to Spin.\u2019 I knew people was in her head. I wanted to say, \u2018They lied to you and made you believe that you were getting this when we weren\u2019t getting that.\u2019 But it took me three and a half years to get Spin to say \u2018I love you\u2019 back to me. But she said, \u2018I do, Pep. I really do.’\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tFor James, her healing started when she too decided to show up unannounced at one of Spinderella\u2019s solo events in L.A. \u201cShe apologized for her part and any hurt that I felt,\u201d Roper says. \u201cI was like, \u2018We\u2019re not kids anymore. Too much time has passed to be in involved with each other to allow all the noise that\u2019s out there come in.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAdds James: \u201cWe\u2019ve had some difficult conversations one-on-one, her and I, and we are in a way better space.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tSalt-N-Pepa have made several appearances as a trio recently, and everyone says they\u2019re ready to put the turmoil behind them. \u201cIt\u2019s giving me chills now because it was such a fight, and it was unnecessary,\u201d says Roper. \u201cI never want to fight with who I call my sisters.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tMuch of this played out in private, but the public knew the broad strokes thanks to legal filings and press coverage. What few people knew is that before the trio finally made peace, the duo of James and Denton fractured one more time. \u201cSalt quit me again,\u201d says Denton with a laugh. \u201cShe called in August 2023 and once again said, \u2018I don\u2019t want to do this anymore, I\u2019m tired.\u2019 I sat there and thought, \u2018Why shouldn\u2019t I be able to perform songs that I wrote and produced?’\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tDespite being uncertain if fans would accept Pepa on her own, Denton told her agent at CAA to look for promoters willing to book her. To her surprise, there was interest. \u201cIt was so empowering,\u201d she says. \u201cThe audience didn\u2019t question me. They didn\u2019t go, \u2018Where\u2019s Salt?\u2019 The way people received me was just magical.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAfter about two years of singing \u201cShoop\u201d and \u201cPush It\u201d alone for the first time in her life, word came back to Denton that James was ready to return to the fold. \u201cI just wanted to stop traveling,\u201d James explains. \u201cI needed a break.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tA reunited Salt-N-Pepa, with Spinderella, performed at their induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2025.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAmy Sussman\/WireImage<\/p>\n
\n\tThe timing was fortuitous. The group members soon learned that they were making it into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. It also allowed them to stand united as they battled Universal over ownership of their master recordings. \u201cThe law gives us the right when 35 years has passed to get the music copyrights back that we created,\u201d says Denton, \u201cand end the original contracts that we signed at the very beginning of our careers when we had no bargaining power.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tA judge recently ruled against them, and they\u2019re planning an appeal. But even if they don\u2019t win, they hope the effort inspires other artists to fight for their rights. \u201cJust because we ran into a little hiccup, that doesn\u2019t mean we still don\u2019t want to enlighten and encourage other artists to look at your paperwork, see where you at 35 years in the game,\u201d Denton says. \u201cThey think we shouldn\u2019t talk about it anymore, and they\u2019re just going to shut us down. Yeah, you can shut us down in the courts, but you can\u2019t shut our mouths down.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThese days, Salt-N-Pepa and Spinderella seem to enjoy standing on steady ground. They\u2019re looking ahead to a busy slate of shows in 2026 and beyond, and, according to James, there\u2019s a possibility they\u2019ll open for Janet Jackson.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWe\u2019re very open to doing shows with Janet,\u201d Denton adds. \u201cAnd there\u2019s been talk of shows with TLC, which would be great because people always pitted us against each other, because we were one three-female group and they were the next one.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tDoes that mean James and Denton now definitely see the group as a trio? \u201cWe\u2019re a duo\/trio,\u201d James shoots back. \u201cThat\u2019s what we need to start saying in our bio.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAfter all these years, Roper says she\u2019s at peace with that. \u201cMaybe we can make hats that say \u2018duo\u2019 and \u2018trio,’\u201d she says with a laugh. \u201cWe can look at them and go, \u2018What is it today? Oh, it\u2019s a trio.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThere\u2019s even discussions about a new album, their first since the Brand New debacle nearly 30 years ago. This time around, they\u2019re willing to let Hurby play a role in it too. Despite everything that happened in the Nineties, they\u2019ve patched up their relationship and Hurby even appeared with them at the Hall of Fame. \u201cListen, never say never,\u201d says James. \u201cA new album would be a great way to wrap up a great career, put a pink bow on it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n
\n\tJames also has a new solo song called \u201cChosen\u201d that she\u2019s eager to share with fans. \u201c\u2018Chosen\u2019 is a celebration of the Chosen Ones, the ones that were there in the beginning that laid the foundation and the groundwork for hip-hop,\u201d she says. \u201cGen Z and Gen X are starving for some grown-folks hip-hop.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI used to say, I don\u2019t want to be rapping onstage, doing \u2018Push It\u2019 in my fifties,\u201d she adds. \u201cAnd here I am, almost 60. But Pep always said, \u2018It doesn\u2019t matter how old you are.\u2019 And you know what? She was right.\u201d<\/p>\n