Very Necessary
There are two ways of combating the blazing misogyny of gangsta rap: with water or with fire. Journalists, teachers, and ministers have been trying to douse the flames of sexism with intellectual and moral arguments. The reasoning is persuasive, but it's doubtful it reaches rap's hard-core young audience. For that crowd, you have to fight fire with fire, and that's just what the female rap trio Salt 'N' Pepa have done so successfully withVery Necessary. With their explicit rapping about bedroom gymnastics, Salt 'N' Pepa are unlikely to be held up as role models in classrooms or churches anytime soon. For a sexually active teenage girl, however, the trio shows how you can get your pleasure without putting up with any disrespect. Salt 'N' Pepa's hit singles "Whatta Man" and "Shoop" are both sensual appreciations of the men they like, but the album also contains some hilarious, pitiless putdowns of the men who don't treat them right.--Geoffrey Himes