Blacks' Magic

Blacks' Magic is the third studio album by American hip hop group Salt-N-Pepa, released on March 19, 1990, by Next Plateau Records and London Records. A critical and commercial success, the album peaked at number 38 on the US Billboard 200 and number 15 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and has been certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting shipments in excess of one million copies in the United States. The album spawned four commercially successful singles, three of which reached the top 10 of the Hot Rap Singles chart; "Let's Talk About Sex" (number 13 in the US, number two in the UK, number one in Australia), "Expression" (number 26 in the US, number 23 in the UK), "Do You Want Me" (number 21 in the US, number five in the UK), and "You Showed Me" (number 47 in the US, number 15 in the UK).

Blacks' Magic
Studio album by Salt-N-Pepa
Released	March 19, 1990 (1990-03-19)
Recorded	1989–1990
Studio	Bayside Sound (New York City) Soundtrack (New York City)
Genre	Hip hop
Length	52:48
Label	Next Plateau London
Producer	Excalibur Hurby Luv Bug The Invincibles Quicksilver Salt Spinderella Steevee-O, The Boy Wonder
Salt-N-Pepa chronology
A Salt with a Deadly Pepa (1988) Blacks' Magic (1990) A Blitz of Salt-n-Pepa Hits (1990)
Singles from Blacks' Magic
"Expression" Released: November 13, 1989 "Independent" Released: May 5, 1990 "Do You Want Me" Released: May 25, 1991 "Let's Talk About Sex" Released: August 31, 1991 "You Showed Me" Released: November 30, 1991 "Expression '92" Released: March 12, 1992

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Christgau's Consumer Guide	A−[2]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[3]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[4]
Los Angeles Times	[5]
Melody Maker	(favorable)[6]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[7]
Spin	(favorable)[8]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Expression"	Cheryl James	Cheryl James Producer, Dana 'Dum' Mozie Asst. Producer	4:04
2.	"Doper Than Dope"	Fingerprints	Steevee-O, The Boy Wonder The Invincibles	4:21
3.	"Negro wit' an Ego"	Fingerprints	Hurby Luv Bug The Invincibles	3:40
4.	"You Showed Me"	Fingerprints Roger McGuinn Gene Clark	Excalibur The Invincibles	4:01
5.	"Do You Want Me"	Fingerprints	Hurby Luv Bug The Invincibles	4:52
6.	"Swift"	Fingerprints	Steevee-O, The Boy Wonder The Invincibles	4:04
7.	"I Like to Party"	Fingerprints	Salt Hurby Luv Bug The Invincibles	3:51
8.	"Blacks' Magic"	Fingerprints	Spinderella The Invincibles	4:16
9.	"Start the Party"	James	Salt	3:51
10.	"Let's Talk About Sex"	Fingerprints	Hurby Luv Bug The Invincibles	3:33
11.	"I Don't Know"	Fingerprints The Meters	Fingerprints Art Neville Joseph Modeliste George Porter Jr. Leo Nocentelli	3:11
12.	"Live and Let Die"	Fingerprints	Quicksilver The Invincibles	3:07
13.	"Independent"	James	Salt	4:46

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Blacks' Magic.^[9]

Salt-N-Pepa

• Salt
• Pepa
• Spinderella

Additional musicians

• Dante Basco - Rapping
• Jacci McGhee – special guest appearance (track 1)
• Joyce Martin – background vocals (track 4)
• Alpha – background vocals (tracks 5, 10)
• Omega – background vocals (tracks 5, 10)
• Hurby Luv Bug – background vocals (tracks 5, 10)
• Kid 'n Play – special guest appearance (track 11)
• Sybil – special guest appearance (track 13)
• Stanley Brown – all keyboards

Technical

• Salt – production (tracks 1, 7, 9, 13)
• Steevee-O, The Boy Wonder – production (tracks 2, 6)
• The Invincibles – production (tracks 2–8, 10–12)
• Hurby Luv Bug – production (tracks 3, 5, 7, 10, 11); album concept
• Excalibur – production (track 4)
• Spinderella – production (track 8)
• Quicksilver – production (track 12)
• Play – album concept
• Andre DeBourg – engineering
• Dana 'Dum' Mozie – engineering
• Herb "Pump" Powers – mastering

Artwork

• Charles Lilly – illustration
• Faville Graphics – design

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for Blacks' Magic Chart (1990) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[10] 149 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[11] 65 UK Albums (OCC)[12] 70 US Billboard 200[13] 38 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[14] 15

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for Blacks' Magic Chart (1990) Position US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[15] 62

Certifications

Certifications for Blacks' Magic

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[16]	Platinum	1,000,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.