Pioneering female rap group Salt-N-Pepa, who are in the middle of a dispute over ownership of their masters, used their induction speeches at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony on Saturday to call out “the industry” for a situation that has seen their music removed from major streaming platforms.
As Cheryl “Salt” James, Sandra “Pepa” Denton and Deidra Roper (DJ Spinderella) accepted the Musical Influence award, James said, “As we celebrate this moment, fans can’t even stream our music. It’s been taken down from all streaming platforms because the industry still doesn’t want to play fair.
“Salt-N-Pepa have never been afraid of a fight,” she continued. “This is the Influence Award. We have to keep using our influence until the industry honors creativity the way the audience does — with love, respect and fairness — and that includes streaming platforms too.”
Salt-N-Pepa filed a federal lawsuit against Universal Music Group — which owns their masters — in May, accusing the label of violating the Copyright Act for not allowing them to reclaim control of their music, despite a law allowing some musicians to do so after 35 years.
According to the lawsuit, the pair filed notices of termination in 2022 to reclaim the rights to those songs, which were released by its subsidiaries Next Plateau London Records. However, UMG followed with a filing that claimed the group could not exercise those “termination rights” because they didn’t sign the contract themselves. A UMG spokesperson said that the company had made “repeated attempts” to “resolve this matter amicably,” adding “Clearly, the artists’ legal counsel thinks they can use the threat of negative media coverage from the lawsuit to achieve their unreasonable demands. Despite this, and consistent with our longstanding practice, we remain committed to working towards an amicable resolution.”
However, the induction was mostly celebratory, reflecting on the group’s influences, influencees — including Miessy Elliott, who inducted the group and herself was the first female rapper to be inducted into the Hall of Fame two years ago — and families. “This is for every woman who picked up a mic when they told her she couldn’t,” James said. DJ Spinderella made note of the overdue nature of her induction, saying, “I’ve been DJ-ing for 40 years, and I’m the first female DJ in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.”
The group also performed a medley of their hits, “My Mic Sounds Nice,” “Shoop” and “Let’s Talk About Sex,” before being joined by En Vogue for their 1993 hit together, “Whatta Man.”
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From Variety US