Salt-N-Pepa Remix Children’s Classic for Grandma’s Cookies Collab [Exclusive]
Rap legends Salt-N-Pepa and Grandma’s Cookies have collaborated on a fresh-out-of-the-oven remix of a classic children’s tune. The iconic collaboration highlights the duo’s skills as they recreate and refresh a nursery rhyme standard. In an exclusive interview with Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Salt-N-Pepa share details of their collaboration with Grandma’s Cookies and discuss their legendary status in the rap world.
Salt-N-Pepa’s collaboration with Grandma’s Cookies is fresh, fun, and fantastic
In 1986, Salt (Cheryl James) and Pepa (Sandra Denton) released their first album, Hot, Cool & Vicious, becoming the first female rap act to achieve gold and platinum status by the Recording Industry Association of America. They remain one of the most legendary artists in their field, winning a Grammy Award and the industry’s Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, among other accolades. They were even featured as the subjects of a 2019 Lifetime movie about their rise to fame.
Their latest collaboration is with Grandma’s Cookies. This iconic pairing led to reimagining the nursery rhyme standard, “Who Stole the Cookie From the Cookie Jar?”
Pepa said, “I’m a grandma, so the partnership was a perfect fit. We wanted to give a treat to cookie lovers and hip-hop fans. It was fun making it and putting a new spin on a song that everyone is familiar with, like ‘Cookie Jar.'”
Salt added, “Everybody’s like, ‘I can’t get it out of my head.’ Like Pepa said, it’s based on a song we already know but with a new Salt-N-Pepa flavor added to it. It all just sounds like something that you would enjoy listening to with your kids. We’re hoping some sort of viral social media campaign goes off where grandmas are, like, bringing their babies to the camera and social media to the song.”
The rap duo’s fan base remains; they’ve always been ‘authentic’
When Salt-N-Pepa came up in the music business, the rap world was heavily dominated by men. The late 1980s featured artists such as Kool Mo Dee, Run DMC, Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, Eric B & Rakeem, and Biz Markie, to name a few.
However, Salt-N-Pepa stood their ground as artists, representing women, an underserved demographic of rap fans. Songs from a female point of view cemented the women as leaders in their field, but the road to success was sometimes challenging.
Salt explains, “I feel like we always say brought fashion and femininity to Hip-Hop. I think we were super authentic, always true to who we were, around the way girls were having a good time. I think that resonated with everyone but women specifically.”
She continued, “It was so relatable, and we made timeless music, you know. Now, by being able to do these collaborations, we’re an example to artists of what longevity looks like. You know, women always come up to us and say, you know, ‘This or that song helped me get out of an abusive relationship’ or ‘helped me through school or a hard time,’ and so even beyond the music, people relate to us as women on a real level.”
Pepa added, “Having been in such a male-dominated field, we had to prove ourselves, and we were here for it. It didn’t actually discourage us. It made us stronger. And so yeah, eventually, we ended up headlining our own tour.”
To which Salt proclaimed, “The first time we toured with women was when we toured with New Kids on the Block. En Vogue was also on the tour. Mostly, we were always the only women on the tour.”
Salt-N-Pepa toughened up professionally and spiritually to get ahead
Salt-N-Pepa should have had it easier as the leading female artists in their field. However, they had to fight every step of the way for acceptance in the rap world, and it toughened them up both professionally and spiritually to get ahead.
“For sure,” Salt explained. I remember way back in the day when we first started, we would be on tour, you know, and Hip-Hop, like Pep said, is a male-dominated field, but also the bravado in the music is very strong and aggressive.”
She continued, “I remember being on tour and watching the guys like be able to command the crowd. You know, just because they’re men and because of their vocal prowess and us feeling like ‘Yo, we got to step up our game,’ like we got to keep making sure we were up there with them right. So it definitely challenged us to make sure that we were on point with our craft.”
Thirty-nine years after their music debut, Salt-N-Pepa’s legacy remains an inspiration to the rap industry. Their collaboration with Grandma’s Cookies drops April 18.
