Salt-N-Pepa -

"Very Necessary"



Salt, Pepa and Spinderilla are back with their fourth album, "Very Necessary" and this is by far the one album that outshines the rest. In the beginning they had a hard core rap approach, but they've recently mellowed out to more of a hip-hop style. With "Very Necessary" exploding all over the charts - two hit singles and a world tour in the works - you could definitely say that this is their year.

Their lead single, "Shoop," shows that Salt-N-Pepa can attract a wide audience. The song is all over the place, including top 40 radio stations, MTV, BET, and is topping the sales charts. The single went as far as number four on Billboards music chart, but that is only one side of the coin. Their latest song, "Whatta Man," teams them up with hip-hop R&B group En Vogue, whose three top 10 singles made them popular in 1992. "Whatta Man," is about Salt-N-Pepa's idea of what a man should really be like, while at the same time being a groovy tune. The single is heading toward platinum (sales of a million) and may be the first chart topper for the trio.

But Salt-N-Pepa also wants to show that they're serious about certain subjects, as seen on their ballad "I've Got AIDS." Considering the success of this album, Salt-N-Pepa hopes that many people will get their point that AIDS is a killer disease. Perhaps someone as popular as this group will be able to get the message across. This song involves a group of teenagers acting out a scenario of a girl who finds out she has been infected with the virus.

The album continues to be on a roll, and I'm sure that everyone has heard one of their songs, whether on the radio or their appearance on "Saturday Night Live." If you didn't like what you heard at first, give it a try anyway. I think this album has a lot of different music styles and catchy beats. "Very Necessary" is by far their best album to date, and there are the sales to prove it (even though their past albums have all had success). So try it; you're bound to like it. .



Review by I. W., New City, NY