Black's Magic

Striking the perfect balance between the B-girl breakbeats of their early recordings and the svelte R&B jams of 1993's Very Necessary, Salt-N-Pepa's third album is a masterstroke. A loose concept album concerned with African American empowerment and feminist enlightenment, Blacks' Magic is a funky wake-up call for both mind and body, exhorting listeners to, by turns, "work that body" ("Expression") and "put some faith in your race" ("Negro Wit' an Ego"). Elsewhere, SNP celebrate the transformative power of music ("Blacks' Magic") and insist on sociopolitical taboo removal ("Let's Talk About Sex"). Throughout, longtime SNP producer Hurby Luv Bug underpins the ladies' charged flow-a-thons with high-tech samplescapes and streamlined grooves. --Greg Siegel