Salt and Pepa speak out

The  Beat By Yanina Carter

Lifetime movies, seems to be catching the attention of  minority women and if the premiere of  “Salt-N-Pepa” biopic and the interview special that followed is what viewers can expect, well Lifetime has hit the ball out the park. The much anticipated movie was viewed by record number audience who were captivated to learn what was going on behind the scene with the duo.

“Salt-N-Pepa”  tell the story of nursing students Cheryl “Salt” James and Sandra “Pepa” Denton, who fell into the rap business a territory (at that time) not known for women. We watch their rise in the hip hop industry as part of a revolution that challenged how women rappers were seen in the industry.  

But what’s funny is no one knew that Martin Lawrence, Kid and Play and Salt and Pepa all worked together at Sears. There are lots of stars that have crossed their paths.

The  cast includes: G.G. Townson as Cheryl “Salt” James and Laila Odom as Sandra “Pepa” Denton. Monique Paul plays the group’s DJ, Deidra Roper aka DJ Spinderella. Other cast members include, Jermel Howard as rapper Treach, who married Pepa in 1999. The two divorced in 2001. Cleveland Berto portrays music producer Hurby Azor.

GG and Laila held a virtual press conference to answer some probing questions. “It was a lot of fun doing this movie,” said Laila, who played Pepa. “Learning the moves, wearing the clothes and the hairstyles. We wanted to be on point representing the duo, that was really important to us.”

“To prepare for the role of Salt,” GG said, “Cheryl and I talked about everything. The story behind the story so I could dig deeper in my character and could give my best performance.”

But both agreed it was a blessing having them on set as executive producers of the documentary.. “There were some seriously emotional times that brought back memories for  Salt and Pepa as well as GG and Liala.  “The scene where I broke up with Hurby took alot out of me, Salt and I got really upset. I couldn’t stop crying, I put my all into that scene.”

Liala added, “When Salt says that she couldn’t be attached to my hip anymore, when I was trying to tell her about my life  was really hurtful and after the exchange GG and I embraced. That was another painful scene.” Liala added, “Pepa was young, hot headed and  a mom, but she had grown into a woman.”

It was Pepa who had wanted to make the movie a long time ago, it wasn’t until recent years that  Salt came around to make the movie.