After forming a friendship with Denton, James' then-boyfriend and co-worker
Hurby Azor approached the pair and asked them to record a rap for a class project. With Azor as their manager, James and Denton then formed the group "Super Nature" (which was eventually changed to "Salt N' Pepa") and were joined by
Latoya Hanson, who was replaced by Deidra Roper in 1987. They released five studio albums:
Hot, Cool & Vicious (1986),
A Salt with a Deadly Pepa (1988), ''
Blacks' Magic (1990), Very Necessary (1993), and Brand New (1997). Salt also co-starred in the 1993 motion picture Who's the Man?''. In 1997, she recorded the song "Stomp" with
gospel artists
Kirk Franklin and
God's Property for their album ''
God's Property'', one of the bestselling albums in gospel music history. They were the first female rap act to have gold, platinum, and multi-platinum albums, and the first female rap act to win a
Grammy. The group disbanded in 2002 but reformed in 2008. James appeared on VH1's inaugural
Hip Hop Honors program in November 2004, along with Pepa, but they did not perform. Salt, Pepa, and Spinderella, however, did perform on the second Hip Hop Honors on September 22, 2005, performing their hit "
Whatta Man". This was the trio's first performance as Salt-N-Pepa since 1999. On October 23, 2008, Salt-N-Pepa performed "Shoop",
"Push It", and "Whatta Man" at the 2008
BET Hip Hop Awards. In 2009, James was featured in the Generation Gospel Exclusive on 106 & Gospel. in 2025, James was inducted into
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Salt-N-Pepa. == Personal life ==