Board Members
Cheryl James
Cheryl “Salt” James one half of the Iconic duo Salt-N-Pepa, credited for changing the game for women in hip-hop. James originally from Bushwick, Brooklyn, met her sister in rhyme Sandra “Pepa” Denton while they both were studying at Queensborough Community College in Bayside, Queens. James boyfriend at the time Hurby “Luv Bug” Azor had the idea to start a female rap group and they released “The Showstopper,” a diss track in response to Doug E. Fresh & The Get Fresh Crew’s classic “The Show.” The track started to generate buzz and airplay on New York’s WBLS radio station.
On the heels of the “Showstopper” Salt-N-Pepa landed a deal to make 1986’s Hot, Cool & Vicious, their debut LP that more than lived up to that spicy title. Propelled by “Push It,” their breakout hit on the pop charts, the album went platinum — making Salt-N Pepa the first female emcee’s to do so and rap’s It girls. Salt-N-Pepa proved that they were more than just the flavor of the moment with 1988’s A Salt with a Deadly Pepa, which also certified platinum. Come their third album James, began to creatively and personally emancipate herself from Hurby “Luv Bug” Azor. In 1990 James wrote and produced the lead single off the Blacks’ Magic Album “Expression” and became the first female emcee to write and produce her own platinum record. James went on to produce other empowering records like “Independent,”
“The Body Beautiful,” and “Ain’t Nothing But She Thang.” Salt-N-Pepa only got bigger with 1993’s Very Necessary, which true to its title, proved to be an essential album and was certified five times platinum. In 1995 they won Grammy gold — for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. Making them the first women in hip-hop to bring home a Grammy, after boycotting the ceremony with their peers three years earlier. In 2021 The Recording Academy awarded Salt-N-Pepa with a Lifetime Achievement award further solidifying there place in hip-hop.
1997 James recorded the groundbreaking Gospel single “Stomp” with Gospel artists Kirk Franklin and God Property, for their God’s Property Album, which became one of the best selling Gospel albums in music history. In the same year she Executive Produced Salt-N-Pepa’s fifth studio album Brand New which was certified gold within a month of it’s release. Reflecting on their legacy, Salt sums it up: “Like so many women before us we have an anointing of breaking down barriers for women in hip-hop. And I think it’s important that we have represented women in an inspirational way — as bosses, as women who have persevered through adversity and misogyny in this business, as mothers, as real women who’ve gone through real-life situations and kept it pushing.”
