Blacks' Magic

Very Necessary There are two ways of combating the blazing misogyny of gangsta rap: with water or with fire. Journalists, teachers, and ministers have been trying to douse the flames of sexism with intellectual and moral arguments. The reasoning is persuasive, but it's doubtful it reaches rap's...	Hot, Cool & Vicious One of the first albums to challenge hip-hop's machocratic sovereignty, Salt-N-Pepa's Hot, Cool & Vicious takes as its musical model Run-D.M.C.'s potent distillation of streetwise repartee, hard-ass bluster and beatbox rhythms. Determined to say it loud and say it proud, r-r-r-ra...	A Salt With a Deadly Pepa	Brand New The female rap act's 1997 album. Mercury.	Supersonic
A Blitz of Salt-N-Pepa Hits: The Hits Remixed	2 Hype	Just Like You On Just Like You, her sophomore disc, Keyshia Cole proves for a second time--for sure and way beyond the shadow of a doubt--that she's headed for Mary J. Blige-style hugeness. If 2005's The Way It Is won fans for its bottomless vocal appeal and mild grit, Just Like You scores wit...	Now & Forever: The Hits This is the definitive Greatest Hits collection from the best selling girl group of all time. The current success of R&B and rap owes a great deal to TLC - their sound, creativity, and personality changed the face of pop/R&B forever. Lisa Lopes' tragic death unfortunately mean...	Born to Sing

The dopest Female Rap Group
These sistas ruled the rap game for females in the late 80's and early 90's. This album had a lot of hits like "Expression", "Do You Really Want Me", and the commercial hit "Lets Talk About Sex". This was also the first project where Salt N Pepa got to show their skills as writers and producers besides Herby Luvbug and this album was just incredible this is definitely a Salt N Pepa classic and should be copped by all hip hop fans.

Great Album, Even Greater Remixes {4 Stars}
I guess the title says it all. If you're buying this album in search of SNP hits that you heard on the radio, you may be in for a bit of a letdown. Most of these songs are great and contain pretty much the same beats as their remixes, but they haven't been tweaked, so they're don't make for the same experience. "Do You Want Me" is still fun to listen to 16 years after its release. "You Showed Me", "Expression", "Let's Talk About Sex", and "Independent" are all classic cuts -- but, like I said, they all have remixes or alternate versions that are WAY, WAY better. Who knows, maybe there's a rerelease with the remixes attached, but my copy is an original pressing and doesn't include those brilliant cuts. There is a remix album out there from this group, so they may be included on that album. Other standouts like "Live & Let Die" and "I Don't Know" bolster an already solid album. Production is handled mostly by Hurby "Luv Bug" Azor. You know his resume' already (Kid N' Play, Salt & Pepa, Dana Dane, Sweet Tee, etc...), so you can expect that phat late 80's/early 90's style production. Salt, Pepa, Spinderella, and Stevee O also contribute some beats. There are a few filler tracks on the album though. "Negro Wit' An Ego, despite a great message, isn't anything memorable. "Swift", "Start The Party", and "I Like To Party" are definitely skip material. The title track suffers from some questionable production from Spinderella. The rest of the album is pretty good. Blacks' Magic is probably the best representation of Salt & Pepa at their peak. They would go on to have more hits, but none of their following albums are as well put together as this one. About half of this album is nothing but classic tracks. I recommend checking this one out. Standout Tracks: Live & Let Die, You Showed Me, Expression feat. Jacci McGhee, Independent feat. Sybil (My Favorite), Let's Talk About Sex, Doper Than Dope, Do You Want Me, and I Don't Know feat. Kid N' Play

S-N-P's Magic
This is SNP's best album. I am baffled why there has been no release of SNP's greatest hits or even a re-issue of "Blacks' Magic". I think that just as Biggie's "Ready to Die" was issued on the 10th anniversary, "Blacks' Magic" deserves a 15th anniversary edition. Here are the bonus tracks I would add: 14. You Showed Me (Suburban Club Mix) 15. Let's Talk About Sex (single remix) 16. Do You Want Me (single version f/ Herby "Luvbug" Azor) 17. Expression (remix) 18. Independent (remix) 19. Let's Talk About AIDS (PSA) 20. You Showed Me (Urban Club Mix) [single/video version] And maybe some soundtrack entries or live recordings from this era would be good, too. One thing I would caution - or maybe wonder aloud - is that there are different versions of this album. I got mine in 1990 when the album first came out, but later versions (post-pop exposure) had different versions of the songs, including the single/video version of "Let's Talk About Sex" - which along with "Do You Want Me" and "You Showed Me" have original album versions much different than what was heard on the radio or television.

Dope
This isn't my favorite album by them. But it has some of my favorite SNP songs. Express yourself, is an awsome R&B song. Their rymes are awsome. The hook by singer Sybil, makes this song memorable. Independant, is my favorite track. It's has an 80's old school sound to it. It's reminicent to Shanice's music in the 80's. The hook is also sung. But by an unknown singer. Salt involves herself in writing and producing. Which is something that female rappers weren't really credited to at that time.

old, but still good!
Blacks' Magic from Salt-N-Pepa is a very well done piece of work. The ladies really shine on this one! And we even hear Spinderella's rap vocals on a few of the songs such as "Negro wit' An Ego" and "I Don't Know" (feat. Play). I have had this album in my collection for a very long time, as this album is very old, yet still sounds great! The ladies get their point across in each track and really speak their minds, especially on "Negro Wit' An Ego." They really "express" themselves completely and don't put up with any crap, lettin men know they're "independent" and don't need them. And they also show they know how to party on songs "I Like To Party" and "Start The Party" I have 2 copies of this album and there happens to be two slightly diff versions of "Let's Talk About Sex." They're basically the same, the only difference is they start off on the intro differently. One goes: "Spinderella cut it up one time" and the other goes: "Hurb..." This is a must have for any rap or hip hop fan. Salt-N-Pepa paved the way for many other female rap artists and groups. So keep in mind, when you diss them, you actually diss yourself! so show them respect and get this album today!