Salt-N-Pepa
exhibited a lot of growth on
Blacks' Magic
(1990), their third album and, by far, best to date. For their follow-up,
Very Necessary
, released a long three and a half years later, in 1993, the ladies delivered a fairly similar album. Like its predecessor,
boasts a pair of major hits (
"Whatta Man,"
"Shoop"
) and a lot of fine album tracks. Also like
,
is filled with strong, prideful rhetoric: femininity, sex, relationships, romance, respect, love -- these are the key topics, and they're a world apart from those of the
gangsta rap
that was so popular circa 1993. And as always, the productions are
dance
-oriented, with a
contemporary R&B
edge. Most tracks were produced by
Hurby "Luvbug" Azor
, though
Salt
is credited on a few, chief among them
"Shoop."
is just as impressive as
, if not more so. The key difference is,
was a striking leap forward for
, who were somewhat of a novelty act up to that point, whereas
is a consolidation of everything that had worked so well for the duo previously. Hence the lack of surprises here. Still, the raised expectations don't change the fact that
is one of the standout -- and, for sure, one of the most refreshingly unique --
rap
albums of its era. ~ Jason Birchmeier