Whatta Man – Salt ‘N’ Pepa with En Vogue | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning
Chart Performance: R&B (#3), Hot Rap (#1), & Pop (#3); 1994
Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne
Cheryl “Salt” James and Sandra “Pepa” Denton were the most commercially successful female rap group of all time. They originally worked in telephone sales and were considering careers in nursing, when Hurby “Luv Bug” Azor gave them a shot as singers on The Show Stoppa.
Stoppa billed them as Super Nature, which changed to Salt ‘N’ Pepa for their next single, released in early 1987. Building on hits such as Shake Your Thang (#4 R&B; 1988) and Expression (#8 R&B; 1990), Salt ‘N’ Pepa’s career reached an all-time high in 1993 when Shoop became an R&B and pop smash.
Meanwhile, En Vogue exploded onto the scene in 1990 with the R&B #1 Hold On. Four of the quartet’s next five releases also topped the rhythm chart, and two went Top 10 pop. In 1993 these six powerhouse women teamed up to record Whatta Man, a song written by Azor and built on a sample from Linda Lyndell’s 1968 single, What A Man.
This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2024 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.
Produced by:
- Hurby Azor
Lyrics Written by:
- Cheryl James
- Dave Crawford
- Hurby Azor
Ed Osborne
Hi. I got my first record at age two and never looked back, spending a decades-long career in radio and the music business. Even after years of reading about and listening to all types of music, I am still fascinated by it. Apart from that, I’m endlessly intrigued by art, nature, and the inner lives of people (and dogs).