Cheryl Renee James (born March 28, 1966), better known by her stage name Salt, is an American rapper. She is best known as a member of the female rap trio Salt-N-Pepa, which also includes Pepa (Sandra Denton) and Spinderella (Deidra "Dee Dee" Roper). James starred in The Salt-N-Pepa Show, a reality TV series focusing on reforming the group; which aired on the VH1 network in 2008.
The daughter of a transit worker and Barbara James, a bank manager, James was born in Brooklyn, New York. The middle of three children, James grew up in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn. James attended Grover Cleveland High School, graduating in 1983. After high school, James enrolled at Queensborough Community College to study nursing. James met Queens-native Sandra Denton in 1985 while attending college.
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's guidance as their manager, James and Denton then formed the group "Super Nature" (which eventually changed to "Salt N' Pepa") and were joined by Latoya Hanson who was replaced by Deidra Roper joined 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.

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