Salt-N-Pepa will perform at the Long Beach Pride Festival on May 16. Photo courtesy of Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride, Inc.
The 2015 Long Beach Pride Festival will “Push It” back to the 1990s when Salt-N-Pepa performs at the annual celebration.
As the first-ever female rap crew, Salt-N-Pepa dominated the radio with songs like “Tramp,” “Shake Your Thang,” “Shoop” and “Whatta Man,” and were the first female rappers to ever receive a Grammy.
“We encounter so many people who said they long to hear and see us again in concert,” said Cheryl James, otherwise known as Salt, in a statement. “People really miss seeing us out there. They come up to us and mention that our music touched them, brings back so many great memories for them and helped them just see life differently.”
Salt-N-Pepa represented females in the 1990s through lyrics about safe sex, independence and respecting yourself as a woman.
Annie Parkhurst, spokeswoman for Long Beach Pride, said the event booked Salt-N-Pepper based off crowd demands.
“We did things a little bit different through social media and our website this year,” she said. “For the last couple of months, we’ve been soliciting the community for ideas to see who they wanted to play so more of them would come out to the event. Salt-N-Pepa was one of the most requested artists, and Rhonda Fuller, our vice president of entertainment, was able to secure the band and get the contract signed. We are so excited to take what the people want and deliver that.”
The festival will take place May 16 and May 17 along Shoreline Drive in Downtown Long Beach, and the group will perform May 16 on the main stage. The Long Beach Pride Parade is scheduled for May 17 along Ocean Boulevard.
