Deidra Muriel Roper (born August 3, 1970), known professionally as DJ Spinderella or simply Spinderella, is an American DJ, rapper and producer. She is best known as a member of the hip-hop group
Salt-N-Pepa
Salt-N-Pepa (also stylized as Salt 'N' Pepa or Salt 'N Pepa) is an American hip-hop group formed in New York City in 1985, that comprised Salt (Cheryl James), Pepa (Sandra Denton), and DJ Spinderella (Deidra Roper). Their debut album, ''Hot, C ...
. Roper occasionally appeared in ''
The Salt-n-Pepa Show
''The Salt-N-Pepa Show'', which premiered on October 14, 2007 on VH1, is a reality show documenting the events from the life of Salt-n-Pepa
Salt-N-Pepa (also stylized as Salt 'N' Pepa or Salt 'N Pepa) is an American hip-hop group formed i ...
'', a reality TV series focusing on reforming the group and which aired on the
VH1 network in 2008.
Early life
Deidra Muriel Roper was born August 3, 1970,
[National Museum of African American History and Culture – Photographic print of Salt-N-Pepa outside Bayside Studios]
/ref> and raised in Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, New York City, as one of five children. Her early influence in music began as a child, fascinated by her father's record collection growing up. Roper began her career as a DJ at age 14. During her sophomore year in high school, she began dating a local DJ who she learned DJ techniques from. Shortly thereafter, she began marketing herself as a DJ in the area around Brooklyn. At age 16, Roper was approached in school by a classmate who asked her would she be interested in joining an all-female rap group. The classmate knew Hurby "LuvBug" Azor, the producer of the group, and arranged for Roper to audition for him.
Career
Roper was introduced to Salt-N-Pepa producer Hurby Azor
Hurby "Luv Bug" Azor (born September 26, 1964), also known as Fingerprints, is a Haitian musician and hip-hop music producer. He is best known for discovering and producing the hip-hop trio Salt-N-Pepa and the rap duo Kid 'n Play.
Early lif ...
just before the group was due to appear at the Westchester Music Festival in 1986. The group's original DJ, Latoya Hanson, had missed several rehearsals and group appearances, and the group was looking for a replacement. Future radio and TV personality Wendy Williams
Wendy Williams Hunter ( Wendy Joan Williams; born July 18, 1964) is an American broadcaster and writer. From 2008 to 2021, she hosted the nationally syndicated television talk show ''The Wendy Williams Show.''
Prior to television, Williams ...
had also auditioned as the DJ. Roper was selected as the group's DJ by Azor (taking the name Spinderella) around the time the group's first album was being released. Since she was 16 at the time of joining, her parents had to give permission for her to travel around the country. The trio became one of the most successful female hip-hop acts of all time. They released five studio albums and saw several platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver".
Platinu ...
and gold single
Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
s. Spinderella has produced several songs on the group's albums as well. In 1993, she was featured as a rapper on Big Daddy Kane
Antonio Hardy (born September 10, 1968), better known by his stage name Big Daddy Kane, is an American rapper who began his career in 1986 as a member of the Juice Crew. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential and skilled MCs in hi ...
's album '' Looks Like a Job For...'' on the second single, " Very Special", which would go on to become Big Daddy Kane's only top 40 hit. Salt-N-Pepa disbanded in 2002, then reformed in 2007 – eventually firing Spinderella in 2019.
From 2003 to 2006, Spinderella worked as a radio personality on the now-defunct KKBT 100.3 in Los Angeles, co-hosting ''The BackSpin'', a nationally syndicated weekly radio show featuring old school hip-hop. She appeared in several episodes of the VH1 series ''The Salt N Pepa Show
''The Salt-N-Pepa Show'', which premiered on October 14, 2007 on VH1, is a reality show documenting the events from the life of Salt-n-Pepa, several years after their breakup.
Episodes Season 1 (2007)
Two themes emerged from the first episode ...
''. From September 2010 to March 2011, she did mid-days at KSOC-94.5 "K-Soul" in Dallas, Texas. Spinderella is part of the American Diabetes Association
The American Diabetes Association (ADA) is a United States-based nonprofit that seeks to educate the public about diabetes and to help those affected by it through funding research to manage, cure and prevent diabetes (including type 1 diabetes, ...
Celebrity Cabinet, a TV ONE UnSung Ambassador, supporter of Saving Our Daughters Mentoring Program, and founder of the Spinderella DJ Academy. She appeared briefly on VH1's first annual ''Hip Hop Honors
The Hip Hop Honors is an annual event that airs on VH1. The television special honors old school and golden age hip hop rappers and contributors for their long-term influence and importance in the history of hip hop culture. It features live pe ...
'' in November 2004, with her group members, but they did not perform. All three members performed on the second ''Hip Hop Honors'' on September 22, 2005. This was the trio's first performance as Salt-N-Pepa since 1999. In 2007, she acted as DJ for The Comedy Central Roast of Flavor Flav. In October 2008, the group performed their hit singles "Shoop", " Push It", and "Whatta Man
"What a Man" is a song written by Dave Crawford, and originally recorded for Stax Records' Volt imprint by Linda Lyndell, whose recording reached number 50 on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart in 1968. The song was sampled and reinterpreted as "Whatt ...
" at the 2008 BET
Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los A ...
Hip Hop Awards. When the group appeared on ''The Wendy Williams Show'' to perform "Push It" on December 18, 2015, host Wendy Williams tried her hand at DJ'ing before Spinderella came out to continue in the role. On May 3, 2019, Spinderella announced in an Instagram post that she had been "terminated" from Salt-N-Pepa as of January 2019, and had broken her silence after the band hadn't made a public announcement regarding their parting of ways.
Personal life
In 1992, Spinderella appeared in the film '' Stay Tuned''. The same year, she had her first and only child, a daughter named Christy, with NBA basketball player Kenny Anderson.[Staff]
"SHAKER HEIGHTS: THEY'RE RAP'S TOP WOMEN, BUT ARE SALT 'N' PEPA TOO SEXY FOR THEIR OWN GOOD?"
''Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'', March 18, 1994. Accessed June 6, 2009. "The group's self-described little sister, Roper lives in Teaneck, N.J., with Christenese, 1, the child she had with ex-boyfriend Kenny Anderson of the New Jersey Nets." In 1996, she appeared in the film ''Kazaam
''Kazaam'' () is a 1996 fantasy comedy family film. It was directed by Paul Michael Glaser, written by Christian Ford and Roger Soffer based on a story by Glaser, and starring Shaquille O'Neal as the title character, a 5,000-year-old genie who ...
'', which starred Shaquille O'Neal
Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), known commonly as "Shaq" ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. O'Neal is regarded as one of the greates ...
. She opened her own beauty salon on October 21, 1997, the same year that the group released their final album '' Brand New''. After this album, she was to have released a solo album, but this never materialized as Red Ant, Salt-N-Pepa's record label, ceased operations. Her daughter Christy later appeared in an episode of ''My Super Sweet 16
''My Super Sweet 16'' is an American reality television series documenting the lives of teenagers, usually in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom, generally with wealthy parents who throw lavish, excessive and expensive coming-of-age ce ...
''.
Notes
References
External links
*
DJ Spinderella Interview
NAMM Oral History Library (2017)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spinderella, DJ
1970 births
American hip hop DJs
American hip hop musicians
Living people
Women DJs
People from Teaneck, New Jersey
20th-century American musicians
21st-century American musicians
20th-century American women musicians
21st-century American women musicians
African-American women musicians
20th-century African-American women
20th-century African-American musicians
21st-century African-American women
21st-century African-American musicians