The Lifetime network has finally set a release date for the highly anticipated Salt-N-Pepa biopic. According to Variety, the simply titled Salt-N-Pepa will premiere on January 23 and be followed by the “Salt-N-Pepa Interview Special” hosted by Loni Love.
Co-produced by Queen Latifah and directed by New Jack City director Mario Van Peebles, the series stars G.G. Townson as Cheryl “Salt” James, Laila Odom as Sandra “Pepa” Denton and Monique Paul as Deidra “DJ Spinderella” Roper and takes a deep dive into the groundbreaking Hip Hop group’s road to notoriety.
“The miniseries Salt-N-Pepa follows the story of Queensborough Community College students Cheryl ‘Salt’ James and Sandra ‘Pepa’ Denton as they fall into the world of rap and Hip Hop after recording for a song for their friend Hurby Azor,” the description reads. “Salt-N-Pepa made a huge impact in Hip Hop by being one of the first all-female rap groups, changing the look of Hip Hop and unafraid to talk about sex and share their thoughts on men.
“Salt-N-Pepa became the first female rap act to go platinum and experienced ground-breaking success with multiple awards, including a Grammy, paving the way for all female rappers to follow. The miniseries will also feature the group’s biggest hits like ‘Let’s Talk About Sex,’ ‘What a Man,’ ‘Shoop’ and ‘Push It,’ among others.”
Salt-N-Pepa hasn’t released any original material since 1997’s Brand New and has suffered some internal drama as recently as last year. In May 2019, Spinderella revealed Salt and Pepa had fired her from the group and wouldn’t be participating in the New Kids On The Block: The Mixtape Tour with Tiffany, Debbie Gibson and Naughty By Nature.
“I’m deeply saddened to share with all the #SaltnPepa and #Spinderella fans that I will not be performing on the #NKOTB Mixtape Tour,” she wrote on Instagram at the time. “Despite my participation in promoting the tour and being highly publicized as one of the acts, in January 2019 I received a ‘termination’ email from #SaltnPepa excluding me from performances with the group. It was my expectation, after making that decision, that they would also take responsibility for sharing the news with the public and other affected parties.”
Spin subsequently filed a lawsuit against her former group members in July 2019, seeking monetary compensation for unpaid royalties. Salt and Pepa spokesperson Rich French sent a statement to HipHopDX explaining Spin’s case was order to mediation.
“A U.S. District Court Judge in the Dallas District today rejected DJ Spinderella’s requests for immediate relief against Salt-N-Pepa and its management, ordering the case to mediation,” French said in the statement. “We are grateful for the judge’s ruling as Salt-N-Pepa have been extremely generous to Spin over many decades and attempted to settle what amounts to a divorce, both peacefully and without rancor.
“Unfortunately, Spin and her legal team adopted a scorched earth approach that brought unnecessary attention to a business dispute that all along could have, and should have, been settled amicably and privately.”
Salt N Pepa also features Jermel Howard asNaughty By Nature’s Treach and Cleveland Berto as the group’s producer Hurby Azor. Check out the trailer above.