Legendary group Salt-N-Pepa blazed the way for female rappers at a time when they were among the only prominent women on the hip-hop landscape. Later this year, they'll be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame under the Musical Influence Award; they'll follow Missy Elliott as the second female hip-hop act in the Hall. But Salt-N-Pepa's vaunted status and historical importance have not smoothed their relationship with Universal Music Group, the company that owns their old record label. Now, Salt-N-Pepa are suing UMG over the rights to their music.
Salt-N-Pepa's UMG lawsuit isn't anything like Drake's one. As the Associated Press reports, Cheryl "Salt" James and Sandra "Pepa" Denton filed a copyright lawsuit against UMG in New York on Monday. (Deidra "Spinderella" Roper, the group's DJ, wasn't part of their original contract, and she's not part of the lawsuit.) In their lawsuit, Salt-N-Pepa claim that the 1976 Copyright Act gives artists the right to reclaim ownership of master recordings and terminate past agreements after 35 years.
Salt-N-Pepa signed with Next Plateau Records and released their debut album Hot, Cool & Vicious in 1986. Next Plateau was an independent label at the time, and it's now under the banner of Universal's Republic label. In their lawsuit, Salt-N-Pepa claim that they filed to terminate their agreement with UMG in 2022 and that "inexplicably, Universal has refused to honor" their wishes. Salt-N-Pepa claim that they should now have the rights to their early records, including their 1987 breakout hit "Push It." They further claim that the rights to other recordings should be theirs by rights later this year and next year, including those to Very Necessary, the quintuple platinum 1993 album that includes the hits "Shoop" and "Whatta Man."
UMG argues that Salt-N-Pepa's initial contract was a work made for hire and that the two rappers were not personally party to the initial 1986 agreement. Salt-N-Pepa's lawyers claim that this was not the case with that original contract. Major labels have long used the work made for hire argument to retain ownership, so this lawsuit has major potential implications for the music business.
Seemingly in response to the legal battle, UMG has pulled Salt-N-Pepa's early music from streaming services. Right now, the group's first three albums are unavailable on Spotify, and the only "Push It" that you can find is the group's 2023 re-recording. In the lawsuit, Salt-N-Pepa's lawyers argue, "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."
