Salt-N-Pepa Commemorate Three Decades of Very Necessary

Style Magazine Newswire | 9/12/2023, 9:18 a.m.

Salt-N-Pepa (Credit: Ernie Paniccioili)

GRAMMY® Award-winning trailblazing hip-hop group Salt-N-Pepa will celebrate three decades of their classic fourth full-length album, Very Necessary, with the release of Very Necessary (30TH Anniversary Edition), out October 20, 2023 via UMe. Various configurations include a Limited-Edition Deluxe Double LP and 2CD Deluxe as well as a Digital Deluxe version. This stands out as the first time the album will be pressed on 2LP black vinyl and 2CD Deluxe. Plus, the 2CD Deluxe will also feature liner notes on the making of their massive hit, “Shoop.”

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With audio remastered in HD, the Limited-Edition Deluxe Double LP features four bonus tracks on blue vinyl, including “Emphatically No,” a Remix of “Shoop,” and two fresh Remixes of “Whatta Man.” In addition to the latter, the 2CD Deluxe and Digital Deluxe Edition boasts a total of 13 bonus tracks. These range from the new original “Let’s Talk About AIDS” and “I Am The Body Beautiful” to various alternate mixes, acapellas, and instrumental tracks. Not to mention, this marks the first time all of the bonus tracks, with the exception of “I Am the Body Beautiful,” will be available on DSPs.

See the full track listing below.

Very Necessary initially arrived on October 12, 1993. It climbed to the Top 5 of the Billboard 200 and eventually moved over 5 million copies in the U.S., going quintuple-platinum. “Shoop” popped off as the groups first Top 5 entry on the Hot 100, and “Whatta Man” cracked the Top 3. “None of Your Business” notched a GRAMMY® Award—the group’s first—in the category of “Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.” In a retrospective review, Pitchfork professed, “Salt-N-Pepa laid out their best music and bravest activism on Very Necessary, an album about love, agency, and take-no-shit femininity from the Queens rap group.” Meanwhile, EMMY® Award-nominated Insecure creator Issae Rae sat down with the group for a New York Timesinterview earlier this year and stated, “I grew up on Salt-N-Pepa. I’ve always admired their collaboration as partners and the way they complement each other.”

VERY NECESSARY (30th ANNIVERSARY EDITION) TRACK LISTING

2LP – Disc 1