Cheryl “Salt” James, one-third of the veteran hip-hop group, Salt ‘N Pepa, has had a career that has spanned over 30 years with hits such as “Shoop,” the HIV/AI.D.S informational song, “Let’s Talk About S-E-X,” and of course, the classic hit, “Push It.”

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Salt-N-Pepa has sold over 15 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling rap acts of all time, male or female. The group has been nominated for a Grammy Award several times.

The trio won the 1995 Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for their song “None of Your Business”, making them one of the first female rap acts to win a Grammy Award, along with Queen Latifah, who won during the same year. Their success in rap and hip-hop culture has earned them the honorific title “The First Ladies of Rap and Hip Hop”.

Her Battle With Bulimia

Even becoming a rap star in her 20s didn’t reverse the slide in her self-esteem. “I felt like the least pretty one. Dee Dee was called the beautiful one, Pepa the super sexy one

. What am I?” One day, out for pancakes with a friend who seemed able to eat anything without gaining weight, Salt overate, then went into the restroom and made herself throw up for the first time. “I remember feeling euphoric, satisfied and relieved afterward,” she says.

From then on, she had three goals in life: keep the eating disorder hidden, win a Grammy Award and weigh only 115 lbs. She accomplished all of them, but by then the bulimia was out of her control. “It was at its worst when I was alone. My mind would go to, ‘What can I eat that is sinful?'” Usually pizza, fries, pasta and chocolate cake in “outrageous portions.” Then she would vomit. Because James, who is 5’2″, never became painfully thin, no one noticed she had a problem.

She finally confided in her then-boyfriend, music producer Gavin Wray, who took her to a therapist. After one session, says Wray, who married James in 2000, “she told me she wanted to deal with it on her own, and she did.”

James turned to her Christian faith. “I got on my knees and cried out, ‘God, I just want to be healed,'” she says. “‘I just want to be whole.'” She returned to going to church regularly and started talking openly with friends and family members about her pain.

“For me, the bulimia was about stuffing my emotions,” says James. “So I stopped suppressing my feelings.”

It helped, and eventually, she was able to stop bingeing and purging. “I don’t want to give the illusion that one day God came down and I was healed. It is a process, and something you have to stay on top of.” There were short relapses, she says, but “I don’t have the fear that it will come back.”

 

(Photo credit: Instagram)
 

On Fighting Stroke
The wife and mother is now pushing a new type of tune: against stroke.  The American Stroke Association kicked off a…

… national hip-hop stroke video competition for 10- to 15-year-olds to broaden public awareness about stroke with Salt being a spokesperson.

Integrating hip-hop music with stroke education helps kids learn, retain and share stroke information with their parents and grandparents, according to research presented at the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association International Stroke Conference.

The free competition engaged and educated youth on stroke while igniting their creative use of visual arts.

Stroke is the No. 4 cause of death and a leading cause of severe, long-term disability in America. Yet, 93 percent of Americans do not think of stroke as a major health concern, according to the American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association.

“I appreciate the efforts of the American Stroke Association,” said Salt, whose close friend had a stroke in 2007. “They are bringing awareness to our community concerning stroke prevention in a creative and caring way. When a stroke occurs, it affects family and friends — that’s why it’s critical that this competition be an intergenerational effort, so that people of all ages learn that stroke can happen to anyone and at any time.”