‘Salt-N-Pepa’: Sandra ‘Pepa’ Denton on the ‘Surreal’ Lifetime Movie About Their Rise to Fame

Kate Hahn January 23, 2021, 9:00 am

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“It was surreal,” Sandra “Pepa” Denton says of watching a music video re-created on the L.A. set of Salt-N-Pepa, the exhilarating movie about about her groundbreaking hip-hop group formed in 1985 with Cheryl “Salt” James and that later added Deidra “DJ Spinderella” Roper.

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The fearless trio — the first of an early group of all-female hip-hop acts to go platinum — won multiple awards, including a Grammy, for tell-it-like-it-is hits such as “Let’s Talk About Sex” and “Whatta Man.”

Exec produced by Denton and James, this biopic captures Salt and Pepa’s (G.G. Townson and Laila Odom, above) chemistry from their first meeting at NYC’s Queensborough Community College. (“She’s introverted; I’m extroverted. We just clicked,” Denton says.)

Salt-N-Pepa Lifetime

As they rise to fame with Spinderella (Monique Paul), they fight an industry that wants to hold them back. For women, “it’s 10 times harder,” Denton says.

“Your voice got to be a little bit louder. They call you aggressive — ‘No, I’m assertive.’ [It’s about] understanding what I want, who I am, my worth.” Spoken like a pioneer.

Salt-N-Pepa, Movie Premiere, Saturday, January 23, 8/7c, Lifetime