September 5, 2024
‘It was not a sexual song. We were literally talking about dancing on the dance floor.’
DJ Spinderella said Salt-N-Pepa were frequently faced with the prospect of arrest when the band performed its hip-hop classic, “Push It.”
The former Salt-N-Pepa member appeared on Drink Champs, where she looked back on the controversy that followed the group’s 1986 hit. The song was way ahead of its time for women in hip-hop and faced extreme criticism from listeners who misunderstood the song’s intent.
“It was not a sexual song,” DJ Spinderella said. “We were literally talking about dancing on the dance floor. And people took that and took it the other way, and it actually worked for us.”
While the backlash ended up working in their favor, threats of arrest still took a toll on the group.
“Being on stage and being told that, ‘If you play that song here, you can get arrested.’ So, there were times where that was almost the case,” the hip-hop DJ shared. “And somehow, we got to a point where we just had to convince everybody that this is not about what you think it’s about. And that is the truth.”
In 2021, Sandra “Pepa” Denton recalled police warning the group not to perform the song because they thought the rappers were using an explicit term.
“They said if you say a curse word, we’re going to take you off the stage,” Pepa told Page Six. “We were saying ‘Push It;’ they thought we were saying, ‘P—y, real good.’ So the police were waiting for us. We had to show them the lyrics: We’re saying ‘PUSH It,’ not ‘p—y.’”
Spinderella left Salt-N-Pepa despite its success due to issues with the two femcees.
“Generally speaking, you just grow up. You just get to a point where things will not be tolerated,” she explained. “And respect should be mutual. And when respect is mutual, we can move and do whatever. But when respect is not mutual, then what are you here for? The bag. That don’t last because I can get a bag without it.”
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