Salt-n-Pepa get noisy about that hush-hush subject

The band that said "Let's Talk About Sex" means it, which is why we talked to them on the fourth birthday of National Talk with Your Teen About Sex Month National Talk with Your Teen About Sex Month celebrates its fourth anniversary this month, and to honor an idea that we think should be talked about year-round, we turned to two exceedingly responsible, open, and verbal sexual citizens who have spiced up and wised up the intercourse for everyone: Salt-N-Pepa. Cheryl James (Salt, less tall, with the Josephine Baker hairstyle) and Sandi Denton (Pepa, with the mile-high Bardot fall) don't need any special month or forum to tell it like it is; they're always down with the kids about sex in songs like "Whatta Man," "Shoop," and, of course, "Let's Talk About Sex." Salt-N-Pepa's very righteous rap isn't just about the ins and outs of sex. They get to the crux of young people's sex problems - STDs, safe sex, teen pregnancy, and abusive relationships.

Not long ago, Salt-N-Pepa were teens, too, which may be why their rap hits so close to home. They knew each other from afar in high school. They bonded while working together in telemarketing at Sears. Shortly after a friend asked them to record a hip-hop number for a school music project, Cheryl (the quiet one) and Sandi (popular and hilarious on cue) rocked to the top of the Billboard charts as the very first successful women's rap duo.

Both of them are now mothers. As their popularity has grown, so has their awareness of issues that affect the world in which they are raising their children. On Very Necessary, their currant album, they included a short, informed, spoken track about AIDS. That album is up for a Grammy this month. Since everyone seems to he listening to them, we figured who better to rap with about sex and teens than the ladies from Queens.

JEFFREY SLONIM: Salt, when was your first sexual experience?

SALT: Let's just say it was when I was too young.

JS: What have you learned about sex since then?

S: As a woman, I've learned that you have to make your own rules when it comes to sex. Because women tend to put up with a lot more than they need to when it comes to relationships. And a lot of young girls think that to keep a boyfriend you have to be sleeping with him. They feel that they're not going to have a boyfriend unless they're sleeping with him, because that's what all of their friends are doing. I say, by not sleeping with guys you're weeding out all the guys that you don't want to be dealing with anyway. A real guy who really likes you or really wants to be around you and be your friend will be there whether you're sleeping with him or not, because he just enjoys your company.

JS: How about you, Pepa? Can you talk about your first sexual experience?

PEPA: My first experience was horrible. I thought I was doing it out of love. My partner was not feeling the same way. I did it for him. I didn't hide anything. I didn't think I was doing anything wrong. I wont home and told my mother.

JS: Did she get furious?

P: No. But she was scared, because she didn't want me to be pregnant. Teenagers don't know how good they have it in life. The bills are all paid. All they have to do is go to school. They think it's mature to be out them. You're not mature if you have to get on welfare. You're not mature if you've got to wait for someone to get you and your baby your next meal. You have to be financially and emotionally set before you have a child.

JS: When did you two get It together with your outlook on sex?

S: Honey, I'm still getting it together. I think when I had my daughter, that really opened my eyes up a lot, because I had somebody else to teach things to and focus on. I had to be an example to her.

JS: Are you going to say the same things to your daughter that your mother said to you?

S: My mother didn't really talk to me about sex. It was a different time. My daughter's now three. She will be able to ask me anything.

JS: If you could go back and talk to yourself as a teenager, what would you tell yourself?

S: What I would like to do while I'm young is make videotapes of myself for my daughter, explaining how I feel about things and why I feel the way I feel, for when she starts giving me problems, so she could see me while I was young and I was cool - talking to her about sex, about anything she is going to have to deal with.

JS: But if you could go back and talk to yourself?

S: I would say, "Cheryl, wait. You're beautiful. You're great. Don't let anybody tell you anything else."

JS: You didn't know that then.

S: I didn't know that then. My self-esteem was very low. My family was very supportive, but it's peer pressure. It's the street. I should have been a leader; I was a follower. So if I could say anything to myself as a teenager it would be: "Be down with the people who embrace you and who do think you're worth something. Don't be a follower. By all means be a leader, especially if you're growing up in a bad environment. Educate yourself. You might become a recording artist, and you have to start understanding what your accountant is talking about. Believe in your dreams."