FEATURE:
Vinyl Corner
Salt-N-Pepa – Blacks’ Magic
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BACK in 1991…
I was in middle school, and I think the first song I heard from Salt-N-Pepa was Let’s Talk About Sex. That’s quite a risqué song for a child to hear, but I don’t think I was too aware of the lyrical meaning and more hooked on the energy and general sound. Written by Hurby ‘Luv Bug’ Azor, also known as Fingerprints, it reached the top-ten in the U.K. charts and, unbeknownst to me, it was taken from the 1990 album, Blacks’ Magic. The third studio album from the New York Hip-Hop group, it followed 1988’s A Salt with a Deadly Pepa. That album had its moments – Shake Your Thang was quite a big hit -, and the 1986 debut, Hot, Cool, & Vicious, boasted the epic Push It. I think 1990’s Blacks’ Magic was their finest album to that point, and one can hear the confidence they display through Blacks’ Magic on 1993’s Very Necessary. A critical and commercial success, the album peaked at number thirty-eight on the Billboard 200 and number-fifteen on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. I would encourage people to get Blacks’ Magic on vinyl, as it is a terrific album, and one of the very best of the 1990s. With huge singles such as Expression, You Showed Me, and Do You Want Me still sounding great today, I think Blacks’ Magic could be introduced to a new generation.
In fact, there is a thirty anniversary reissue of the album coming out soon. This article from Retro Pop provides some more details:
“Salt ‘N’ Pepa’s brilliant Blacks’ Magic album is getting a stunning vinyl reissue to celebrate its 30th anniversary.
The group’s third album, best known for the massive hit Let’s Talk About Sex, comprises 12 tracks in total, including singles Expression, Do You Want Me, and You Showed Me.
The reissue comes exclusively through Vinyl Me, Please on 2LP candlelight splatter red and yellow coloured vinyl. Each disc plays at 45 RPM.
“Most discussions of the album begin and end with “Let’s Talk About Sex,” arguably one of the most important rap songs with regards to sexual politics,” reads a synopsis for the release.
“But this record is deeper than that, boasting lots of mic trading and fun, light songs that were Salt-N-Pepa’s well, bread and butter.
The record, limited to 750 copies, is available to pre-order now, and is estimated to ship in early November”.
The 1990s was a great time when strong female groups like Salt-N-Pepa and En Vogue ruled and were producing these timeless anthems and stunning songs. I love the mixture of the harder-hitting and fun moments on Blacks’ Magic, and the vocal performances throughout the album are incredible. Before wrapping up, I want to bring in a couple of reviews for Blacks’ Magic.
Salt-N-Pepa definitely stepped up a gear on their third studio album, and they sound much more confident and committed. There are a greater number of hits, and most of the non-singles are hugely memorable and varied. In their review, Medium wrote the following:
“While their previous projects had hits, they mostly hung off of the appeal of samples or catchy melodies. Salt-N-Pepa demonstrated, through their dynamic lyrics, that they had a treasure chest of hidden skills that could and would separate them from their contemporaries. While ‘Expression’ had a wonderfully inspirational message of self-confidence ‘You Show Me’ may have been their strongest banger to date.
Salt N Pepa weren’t just pretty faces. They may overly sell their sexuality in music videos (that chest reveal wasn’t necessary in the “Expression” music video) but they owned it. In addition to sex the group had confidence more generally in their womanhood. They clearly recognized who they were and what they wanted to accomplish in their careers. This was most evident in the tirade of bars on the title track. Not only did they want to change the negative rhetoric associated with blackness, but they proved that the new decade was the time for change. No more waiting. It was bold statements like that song and the album as a whole that made Black’s Magic an essential record in hip-hop and pop music history”.
I have been listening to Blacks’ Magic since it came out but, thirty years since its release, and it still sounds relevant and affecting. The songs have not dated, and I think there is a definite gap in the music market now for a group like Salt-N-Pepa.
In their review from this year, AllMusic had this to say about Blacks’ Magic:
“Prior to the release of their third album, Blacks' Magic, Salt-N-Pepa were viewed as little more than pop crossover artists. Most of their singles had been rap remakes of old R&B songs, and they hadn't even rapped all that much on their biggest hit, "Push It," which got by on its catchy synth hook. But Blacks' Magic was where Salt-N-Pepa came into their own. It wasn't that their crossover appeal diminished, but this time they worked from a funkier R&B base that brought them more credibility among hip-hop and urban audiences. More importantly, they displayed a stronger group identity than ever before, projecting a mix of sassy, self-confident feminism and aggressive -- but responsible -- sexuality. The album's trio of hit singles -- "Expression," "Do You Want Me," and the playful safe-sex anthem "Let's Talk About Sex" -- summed up this new attitude and got the group plastered all over MTV. But there was more to the album than just the singles -- track for track, Blacks' Magic was the strongest record Salt-N-Pepa ever released. Even if there's still a bit of filler here and there, Blacks' Magic successfully remade Salt-N-Pepa as their own women, and pointed the way to the even more commercially successful R&B/pop/hip-hop fusions of Very Necessary”.
I would recommend that everyone checks out Blacks’ Magic and grabs a copy – or streams the album is not -, as it is a terrific album that, as I say, still sounds important and great today. They might have topped themselves on 1993’s Very Necessary, but Blacks’ Magic was the album where Salt-N-Pepa…
BROKE through in style!