Salt-N-Pepa sue record label to reclaim rights to their recordings
including 'Push It'
[May 20, 2025]
By ANDREW DALTON
Salt-N-Pepa are telling their record label not to push it as they fight
for the rights to their music.
The groundbreaking duo behind hip-hop classics including 1993's “Shoop”
and 1987's “Push It” say in a lawsuit that Universal Music Group is
violating copyright law by refusing to agree to turn over the rights to
their master recordings.
Cheryl “Salt” James and Sandra “Pepa” Denton filed the lawsuit in
federal court in New York on Monday asserting that the copyright act of
1976, which says that after several decades artists can terminate
previous agreements and reclaim ownership of their recordings, clearly
now applies to them.
The fight, which has led to UMG pulling Salt-N-Pepa's music from
streaming services, comes as many artists with beloved legacies are
making lucrative sales of their catalogs, while others get stuck in
classic record-label battles over old contracts.
“UMG has indicated that it will hold Plaintiffs’ rights hostage even if
it means tanking the value of Plaintiffs’ music catalogue and depriving
their fans of access to their work,” the suit says.
UMG representatives did not immediately respond to an email seeking
comment.
The lawsuit suggests that situations like Salt-N-Pepa's are the very
reason the provision of the copyright act exists. It allows artists who
made deals “at the beginning of their careers” when they were relatively
powerless to use the cultural standing and musical legacy they later
established.
The suit says James and Denton filed to terminate their agreement under
the law in 2022, “eager to retake full ownership of their art and
legacy,” but that, “Inexplicably, UMG has refused to honor” their
rights.
James and Denton say that by law, they should now be able to own early
recordings including those from their 1986 debut album, “Hot, Cool &
Vicious,” and 1987's “Push It,” a B-side whose remix caught on and
became their breakthrough hit.
They say other recordings should legally be theirs later this year and
in 2026, including the 1993 album “Very Necessary,” which includes
“Shoop” and “Whatta Man.”
The duo is seeking both actual damages for money lost and punitive
damages in amounts to be determined for UMG’s actions. The suit says
actual damages could “well exceed $1 million.” They also want a
permanent injunction confirming their rights to the recordings.
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Sandra Denton (Pepa), from left, DJ Spinderella, and Cheryl
James (Salt) attend a ceremony honoring Salt-N-Pepa with a star on
the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Friday, Nov. 4, 2022, in Los Angeles.
(Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, file)
 They said by pulling the songs from
streaming and other commercial platforms, the label has “maliciously
punished” Salt-N-Pepa “for daring to assert their rights.”
The label's lawyers said in letters included as exhibits in the
lawsuit that they have encouraged mediation and want to reach a
“mutually acceptable resolution.”
But the UMG lawyers said in the letters that James and Denton were
not even personally parties in the 1986 agreement that covered their
initial albums, and there is no evidence that they granted the label
copyright that they can now reclaim.
UMG maintains that the recordings were “works made for hire,” which
would not allow for the reclaiming of rights. Salt-N-Pepa's lawsuit
says the women's agreements with the label make it very clear that
they were not.
The Queens, New York, duo of James and Denton became Salt-N-Pepa in
1985. They were later joined by DJ Spinderella, who was not part of
the early agreements under dispute and is not involved in the
lawsuit.
“Salt-N-Pepa boldly changed the look of rap and hip-hop,” the
lawsuit says. “They were not afraid to talk about sex and to share
their thoughts about men. Their sound recordings ‘Let’s Talk About
Sex’ and ‘None of Your Business,’ for example, were huge hits. They
talked candidly about women’s sexuality and empowerment when such
topics were frowned upon, heavily criticized, and called taboo.”
In 1995 they became the first female rap group to win a Grammy, and
in 2021, they received a Grammy lifetime achievement award.
Later this year they'll become members of the Rock & Roll Hall of
Fame when they receive the organization's Musical Influence Award.
___
AP Music Writer Maria Sherman contributed to this report.
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