On Monday (Sept. 11), Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) announced its plan to release a special limited edition of Salt-N-Pepa’s original fourth studio album Very Necessary, titled Very Necessary (30th Anniversary Edition), on Oct. 20 to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the album and the 50th anniversary of hip hop. Salt-N-Pepa, made up of Salt (Cheryl James), Pepa (Sandra Denton), and DJ Spinderella (Deidra Roper), released the original version in Oct. 1993. UMe also announced that fans can expect the package, available in digital deluxe, deluxe double LP and two-CD deluxe formats, to include 13 bonus tracks.
The album (quintuple platinum in 2023) contains three of Salt-N-Pepa’s greatest hits (“Shoop,” “Whatta Man” and “None of Your Business”). The artists won the 1995 Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group Grammy Award for “None of Your Business.” Before Queen Latifah, who also won that evening, Salt-N-Pepa became known as the first female rap group to win a Grammy Award.
The limited edition offers different bonus features depending on the format. The deluxe double LP offers four bonus tracks, including remixes of “Shoop” and “Whatta Man.” The digital deluxe and two-CD deluxe offer 13 total tracks. Fans can enjoy instrumental tracks, a capella versions and other mixes. Additionally, the latter format features “Shoop” liner notes. Both options also include new original versions of “I Am the Body Beautiful” and “Let’s Talk About AIDS.”
Per “Billboard,” Pepa reacted to the release of the limited edition with the following statement:
“When we started out, people questioned if hip hop would even last. Here we are 30 years later, celebrating the anniversary of Very Necessary, ourselves as women, and our contributions to the 50-year legacy of hip hop. It’s a beautiful thing! Thank you to all our fans for keeping Salt-N-Pepa alive and relevant all these years.”
