Nationwide — Hip-hop duo Salt-N-Pepa says fans can’t stream some of their hit songs because of a fight with Universal Music Group. They claim the company won’t give back the rights to their old music, so they had to sue.
Cheryl “Salt” James and Sandra “Pepa” Denton said on Good Morning America that songs like “Push It” are missing from streaming platforms. They believe Universal is stopping them from sharing and promoting their own music.
The case is about “termination rights,” a U.S. law that lets artists take back their music after 35 years. Salt-N-Pepa say they followed the rules, but Universal refuses to give the songs back.
“When you’re an artist, in the beginning, you sign a contract saying that the copyrights will revert back to you after 35 years,” James said, according to Good Morning America. “And we’ve done all the things legally to get our copyrights back. But they’re just refusing, so we had to sue them.”
They filed the lawsuit in May in New York. Universal has asked the court to drop the case, saying Salt-N-Pepa weren’t the ones who signed the original contract.
The company did not comment due to the ongoing case. But the duo says the law should protect artists like them.
“Obviously, it’s something. They wanna keep it. They wanna hold onto it. And they’re tryin’ to fight us,” Denton claimed. “So, obviously, they understand what’s the worth of that.”
Even with the lawsuit, Salt-N-Pepa is set to receive the Musical Influence Award at the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony. They’ll be the first hip-hop group to get the honor.
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