Sandra Denton
Encyclopedia
Sandra Denton, known as Pepa, (born November 9, 1964) is a Jamaican American
rap
/hip hop
artist
, actress, and a member of the female rap trio
Salt-N-Pepa
.
, Jamaica
, Denton's family moved to Queens
, New York
when she was a child. In 1985, while studying nursing
at Queensborough Community College
, she met Cheryl "Salt" James
. With production by Hurby "Luv Bug" Azor", they released a single called "The Showstopper" which became a moderate R&B hit. Shortly after in 1986, Deidra "Spinderella" Roper
joined as the group's DJ
as a full-length debut album
, Hot, Cool & Vicious
, was being released. The trio released a total of five studio albums: "Hot, Cool, and Vicious" (1986), A Salt with a Deadly Pepa
(1988), Blacks' Magic
(1990), Very Necessary
(1993), and Brand New
(1997), plus several greatest hits albums.
Salt-n-Pepa disbanded in 2002 several months after their Brand New album was released on Red Ant Records. Pepa's group member Salt had stated she was ready to leave the music industry. The trio reunited for a performance on VH1
's Hip Hop Honors program
on September 22, 2005.
In 2005, Pepa was a cast member of VH1's The Surreal Life
(season 5). Pepa's acting
credits also include the motion picture Joe's Apartment
, an appearance in the HBO movie
First Time Felon, and a stint as Officer Andrea Phelan
on the HBO drama
, Oz
. She also starred on The Surreal Life: Fame Games
.
Salt-n-Pepa reformed in 2008, and are still in the process of releasing an album since reforming as they work out past issues. Pepa teamed up with Salt for VH1's The Salt-N-Pepa Show
. Pepa also starred in her own reality show on the network entitled Let's Talk About Pep, a name play off the group's hit song "Let's Talk About Sex
". She can also be heard speaking a Jamaican chant in the song "Need U Bad
" by Jazmine Sullivan
.
In August 2008, Pepa released her autobiography, which was also entitled Let's Talk About Pep. It was co-written by Karen Hunter
, and it offered a look behind the fame, family, failures, and successes of her life in one of hip-hop's most successful groups. It features an introduction by Queen Latifah
, and an epilogue by Missy Elliott
. To accommodate the book, Pepa launched her own social network for her fans
. On October 23, 2008 Salt-N-Pepa
performed at the BET Hip Hop Awards.
In January 2011, Pepa appeared in an episode of the TBS
sitcom "Are We There Yet?
" as a woman who falls for the Terry Crews
character of Nick.
in 1993, teaching teenage girls the responsibilities of being a mother. In 1999, she married Treach
of the rap group Naughty by Nature
. She had a daughter with Treach, whom they named Egypt. Due to allegations of physical abuse by Treach, they divorced in 2001.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
rap
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
/hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
artist
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
, actress, and a member of the female rap trio
Trio (music)
Trio is generally used in any of the following ways:* A group of three musicians playing the same or different musical instrument.* The performance of a piece of music by three people.* The contrasting section of a piece in ternary form...
Salt-N-Pepa
Salt-N-Pepa
Salt-N-Pepa is an American hip hop trio from Queens and Brooklyn, New York, that was formed in 1985. The group, consisting of Cheryl "Salt" Renee James, Sandra "Pepa" Denton, and Deidra "DJ Spinderella" Roper, was one of the first all-female rap crews....
.
Biography
Born in KingstonKingston, Jamaica
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...
, Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, Denton's family moved to Queens
Queens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
, New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
when she was a child. In 1985, while studying nursing
Nursing
Nursing is a healthcare profession focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life from conception to death....
at Queensborough Community College
Queensborough Community College
Not to be confused with Queens College, City University of New YorkQueensborough Community College , is one of six community colleges within the City University of New York system. It is located in the neighborhood of Bayside, Queens County, New York City, New York. The total enrollments are...
, she met Cheryl "Salt" James
Cheryl James
Cheryl R. James , better known as Salt, is an American rapper and actress. She is a member of the rap trio Salt-N-Pepa, which also includes Pepa and Spinderella...
. With production by Hurby "Luv Bug" Azor", they released a single called "The Showstopper" which became a moderate R&B hit. Shortly after in 1986, Deidra "Spinderella" Roper
DJ Spinderella
Deidra Muriel Roper , known as DJ Spinderella, is an American DJ and rapper who was a member of the hip-hop group, Salt-N-Pepa. Her name is a reference to the classic fairy tale Cinderella.- Career :...
joined as the group's DJ
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
as a full-length debut album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, Hot, Cool & Vicious
Hot, Cool & Vicious
Hot, Cool, & Vicious is the debut album by rap act Salt-N-Pepa released by Next Plateau Records on December 8, 1986. It was one of the first albums to be released by an all-female rap group, and also became the first album by a female rap act to attain gold and platinum status in America.The album...
, was being released. The trio released a total of five studio albums: "Hot, Cool, and Vicious" (1986), A Salt with a Deadly Pepa
A Salt with a Deadly Pepa
A Salt With A Deadly Pepa is the second album by female rap trio Salt-N-Pepa, released on Next Plateau Records. The album was certified gold in America, reaching #38 on the Billboard 200 and #8 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Album charts...
(1988), Blacks' Magic
Blacks' Magic
Blacks' Magic is the third album by female rap group, Salt-n-Pepa, released in 1990 on London Records. The album was a critical and commercial success, making it to #38 on the Billboard 200 and #15 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop album charts and was certified Platinum...
(1990), Very Necessary
Very Necessary
Very Necessary is the title of the fourth studio album by rap/hip-hop group Salt-n-Pepa Released in 1993, the album went on to become the most successful rap album by a female act. It was produced by Cheryl James , Sandy Denton , Dee Dee "Diedra" Roper , and Hurby Azor...
(1993), and Brand New
Brand New (Salt-n-Pepa album)
Brand New is the fifth and final studio album by rap trio Salt-n-Pepa. It was released on October 21, 1997 by Red Ant Entertainment. Red Ant filed bankruptcy before the album was officially released. Salt-n-Pepa toured to support the album, despite the fact the album had no other promotion whatsoever...
(1997), plus several greatest hits albums.
Salt-n-Pepa disbanded in 2002 several months after their Brand New album was released on Red Ant Records. Pepa's group member Salt had stated she was ready to leave the music industry. The trio reunited for a performance on VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
's Hip Hop Honors program
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
on September 22, 2005.
In 2005, Pepa was a cast member of VH1's The Surreal Life
The Surreal Life
The Surreal Life is a reality television series that sets a select group of past-their-prime celebrities and records them as they live together in Glen Campbell's former mansion in the Hollywood Hills for two weeks...
(season 5). Pepa's acting
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
credits also include the motion picture Joe's Apartment
Joe's Apartment
Joe's Apartment is a 1996 musical-serio-comedy film starring Jerry O'Connell and Megan Ward and the first film produced by MTV Films. It was based on a 1992 short film first made for MTV , but was also inspired by both the 1987 Japanese film Gokiburi-tachi No Tasogare and...
, an appearance in the HBO movie
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
First Time Felon, and a stint as Officer Andrea Phelan
Andrea Phelan
Andrea Phelan is a Correctional Officer on the HBO drama Oz, played by Pepa. Primarily assigned to Unit B, she is one of the few African American female officers with a recurring role. It can be assumed through watching Seasons 4 and 5 that she was the supervising CO of Unit B....
on the HBO drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
, Oz
Oz (TV series)
Oz is an American television drama series created by Tom Fontana, who also wrote or co-wrote all of the series' 56 episodes . It was the first one-hour dramatic television series to be produced by premium cable network HBO. Oz premiered on July 12, 1997 and ran for six seasons...
. She also starred on The Surreal Life: Fame Games
The Surreal Life: Fame Games
The Surreal Life: Fame Games is a reality television series that was originally broadcast on the VH1 cable network. A spin-off of the VH1 show, The Surreal Life, the show assembles ten alumni of the show's 6 prior seasons to compete in a ten-week competition that takes place in Las Vegas, with the...
.
Salt-n-Pepa reformed in 2008, and are still in the process of releasing an album since reforming as they work out past issues. Pepa teamed up with Salt for VH1's The Salt-N-Pepa Show
The Salt-N-Pepa Show
The Salt-N-Pepa Show, which premiered on October 14, 2007 on VH1, is a reality show documenting the events from the life of Salt-n-Pepa, several years after their breakup.-Season one:...
. Pepa also starred in her own reality show on the network entitled Let's Talk About Pep, a name play off the group's hit song "Let's Talk About Sex
Let's Talk About Sex
"Let's Talk About Sex" is the name of a hit song released by the American hip-hop trio Salt-n-Pepa. It was released as a single from their Blacks' Magic album in the year 1991, and achieved a great success in many countries, including Australia, Austria, Germany, and Switzerland where it was a...
". She can also be heard speaking a Jamaican chant in the song "Need U Bad
Need U Bad
"Need U Bad" is a song performed by American recording artist Jazmine Sullivan from her debut album, Fearless . The song features rapper Missy Elliott, as well as Pepa speaking a Jamaican chant. "Need U Bad" is Sullivan's debut single and the lead single from Fearless. It was first released on May...
" by Jazmine Sullivan
Jazmine Sullivan
Jazmine Marie Sullivan is an American recording artist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is also the protégé of rapper Missy Elliott. Her debut single "Need U Bad" reached number one on Billboards Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, while her second single, "Bust Your Windows" peaked at number four...
.
In August 2008, Pepa released her autobiography, which was also entitled Let's Talk About Pep. It was co-written by Karen Hunter
Karen Hunter
Karen Hunter is an American journalist and publisher, and the coauthor of several books.-Career:Between 1996 and 1998, Hunter taught journalism at New York University....
, and it offered a look behind the fame, family, failures, and successes of her life in one of hip-hop's most successful groups. It features an introduction by Queen Latifah
Queen Latifah
Dana Elaine Owens , better known by her stage name Queen Latifah, is an American singer, rapper, and actress. Her work in music, film and television has earned her a Golden Globe award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Image Awards, a Grammy Award, six additional Grammy nominations, an Emmy...
, and an epilogue by Missy Elliott
Missy Elliott
Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott , is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, and actressA five-time Grammy Award winner, Elliott, with record sales of over seven million in the United States, is the only female rapper to have five albums certified platinum by the RIAA, including one...
. To accommodate the book, Pepa launched her own social network for her fans
Fan (person)
A Fan, sometimes also called aficionado or supporter, is a person with a liking and enthusiasm for something, such as a band or a sports team. Fans of a particular thing or person constitute its fanbase or fandom...
. On October 23, 2008 Salt-N-Pepa
Salt-N-Pepa
Salt-N-Pepa is an American hip hop trio from Queens and Brooklyn, New York, that was formed in 1985. The group, consisting of Cheryl "Salt" Renee James, Sandra "Pepa" Denton, and Deidra "DJ Spinderella" Roper, was one of the first all-female rap crews....
performed at the BET Hip Hop Awards.
In January 2011, Pepa appeared in an episode of the TBS
TBS (TV channel)
TBS , stylized in the logo as tbs, is an American cable television channel owned by Time Warner that shows a variety of programming, with a focus on comedy. TBS was originally known as WTCG, a UHF terrestrial television station that broadcast from Atlanta, Georgia, during the late 1970s...
sitcom "Are We There Yet?
Are We There Yet?
Are We There Yet? is a 2005 American family comedy film which was produced by Revolution Studios and was distributed by Columbia Pictures, directed by Brian Levant...
" as a woman who falls for the Terry Crews
Terry Crews
Terrence Alan "Terry" Crews is an American actor, comedian, voice artist and a former player in the National Football League....
character of Nick.
Personal life
In 1990, Pepa had her first child, a son named Tyran. She made a guest appearance on Ricki LakeRicki Lake
Ricki Pamela Lake is an American actress, producer, and television host. She is best known for her starring role as Tracy Turnblad in the original Hairspray, her ground-breaking documentary film The Business of Being Born, and her talk show which was broadcasted internationally from...
in 1993, teaching teenage girls the responsibilities of being a mother. In 1999, she married Treach
Treach
Anthony Criss , better known by his stage name Treach, is an American rapper and actor. He is best known as the lead rapper of the hip hop group Naughty by Nature.-Career:...
of the rap group Naughty by Nature
Naughty by Nature
Naughty by Nature are a Grammy Award-winning American hip hop trio from East Orange, New Jersey that at the time of its formation in 1989 consisted of Treach, Vin Rock, and the DJ Kay Gee...
. She had a daughter with Treach, whom they named Egypt. Due to allegations of physical abuse by Treach, they divorced in 2001.