Let's Talk About Sex

For the 1998 film, see Let's Talk About Sex (film). For the Canadian television program, see Let's Talk Sex.
"Let's Talk About Sex"
Single by Salt-n-Pepa
from the album Blacks' Magic
B-side Remix
Released August 6, 1991
Format 7" single, CD single, CD maxi, audio cassette
Recorded 1990
Genre Hip hop
Length 3:33
Label Next Plateau
Writer(s) Hurby Azor
Producer(s) Hurby Luv Bug and the Invincibles
Certification Gold (RIAA)
Salt-n-Pepa singles chronology
"Do You Want Me"
(1990)		 "Let's Talk About Sex"
(1991)		 "You Showed Me"
(1992)

"Let's Talk About Sex" is a song by American hip-hop trio Salt-n-Pepa. It was released in August 1991 as a single from their Blacks' Magic album, and achieved great success in many countries, including Australia, Austria, Germany, The Netherlands and Switzerland where it was a number-one hit.

Content

The song talks about safe sex, the positive and negative sides of sex and the censorship that sex had around that time in American mainstream media. The song was later included in the trio's Greatest Hits (2000) album. It samples "I'll Take You There" by the Staple Singers. An alternate version of the song entitled "Let's Talk About AIDS" was released to radio on a promotional single and included as a b-side on various singles for the song. The lyrics were changed to more directly address the spread of AIDS and HIV.

Music video

The music video for "Let's Talk About Sex" directed by Millicent Shelton starts in a black-and-white scene with a girl turning on a radio and listening to the song. Then she starts kissing her boyfriend and scenes of Salt-n-Pepa and other couples kissing and hugging are shown. Next the video colorizes when Salt-n-Pepa are shown dancing. Another version of the video has a scene in which a skeleton is shown after the word 'AIDS' with a stamp saying 'censored' in his mouth.

Cover versions

Chart performances and awards

The song was certified gold by the RIAA and peaked at No. 13 at the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In the purely sales-based UK Singles Chart, the song hit No. 2, and in the German singles chart, the song hit No. 1, the first original song by an American hip-hop act to achieve that feat. It also hit No. 1 in the Australian ARIA Singles Chart.

In 1992, the song was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.

Track listings

7" Single
  1. "Let's Talk About Sex!" (True Confessions Edit) — 3:32
  2. "Let's Talk About Sex!" (Super Crispy Mix) - 4:39
CD Maxi
  1. "Let's Talk About Sex!" (True Confessions Edit) — 3:32
  2. "Let's Talk About Sex!" (Original Recipe Mix) — 4:42
  3. "Let's Talk About Sex!" (Super Crispy Mix) — 4:39
  4. "Do You Want Me" (Techno Philly Mix) — 6:31

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Chart (1991/92) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[2] 1
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[3] 1
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[4] 1
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[5] 24
Canada Dance/Urban (RPM)[6] 3
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[7] 8
France (SNEP)[8] 11
Germany (Official German Charts)[9] 1
Ireland (IRMA)[10] 4
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[11] 1
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[12] 3
Norway (VG-lista)[13] 3
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[14] 2
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[15] 1
UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)[16] 2
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[17] 13
U.S. Billboard Hot Rap Tracks[17] 12
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play[17] 6
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks[17] 51

End of year charts

End of year chart (1992) Position
Australian Singles Chart[18] 48
Austrian Singles Chart[19] 18
Dutch Top 40[20] 13
Swiss Singles Chart[21] 19

Certifications

Country Certification Date Sales certified
Australia[22] Platinum 1992 70,000
Austria[23] Gold December 5, 1991 15,000
UK[24] Silver October 1, 1991 200,000
U.S.[25] Gold December 10, 1991 500,000

Chart successions

Preceded by
"James Brown Is Dead" by L.A. Style		 Dutch Top 40 number-one single
November 9, 1991 – November 23, 1991 (3 weeks) 		Succeeded by
"Kon ik maar even bij je zijn" by Gordon
Preceded by
"(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" by Bryan Adams		 Austrian number-one single
November 10, 1991 – February 9, 1992 (13 weeks) 		Succeeded by
"Justified & Ancient" by The KLF
German number one single
November 15, 1991 – January 17, 1992 (10 weeks) 		Succeeded by
"Das Boot" by U96
Preceded by
"Black or White" by Michael Jackson		 Swiss number one single
January 19, 1992 (1 week) 		Succeeded by
"Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me"
by Elton John and George Michael
Australian ARIA Singles Chart number-one single
January 25, 1992 – February 15, 1992 (4 weeks) 		Succeeded by
"Love You Right" by Euphoria

See also

References

  1. ↑ Max Raabe und Palast Orchester - News, Bilder, Konzerte und Videos 2013 - Neuigkeiten
  2. ↑ "Australian-charts.com – Salt-N-Pepa – Let's Talk About Sex!". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  3. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Salt-N-Pepa – Let's Talk About Sex!" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  4. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Salt-N-Pepa – Let's Talk About Sex!" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  5. ↑ Canada Top Singles peak
  6. ↑ Canada Dance/Urban peak
  7. ↑ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  8. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Salt-N-Pepa – Let's Talk About Sex!" (in French). Les classement single.
  9. ↑ "Musicline.de – Salt-N-Pepa Single-Chartverfolgung" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH.
  10. ↑ Irish Singles Chart Irishcharts.ie Archived 2009-06-03 at WebCite (Retrieved August 20, 2008)
  11. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Salt-N-Pepa search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40.
  12. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Salt-N-Pepa – Let's Talk About Sex!". Top 40 Singles.
  13. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Salt-N-Pepa – Let's Talk About Sex!". VG-lista.
  14. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Salt-N-Pepa – Let's Talk About Sex!". Singles Top 100.
  15. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Salt-N-Pepa – Let's Talk About Sex!". Swiss Singles Chart.
  16. ↑ UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved August 20, 2008)
  17. 1 2 3 4 Billboard Allmusic.com (Retrieved August 20, 2008)
  18. ↑ 1992 Australian Singles Chart aria.com Archived September 2, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. (Retrieved August 20, 2008)
  19. ↑ 1992 Austrian Singles Chart Austriancharts.at Archived June 12, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. (Retrieved August 20, 2008)
  20. ↑ "Single top 100 over 1991" (PDF) (in Dutch). Top40. Archived from the original (pdf) on March 30, 2012. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
  21. ↑ 1992 Swiss Singles Chart Hitparade.ch Archived October 22, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. (Retrieved August 20, 2008)
  22. ↑ "ARIA Accreditations (1987-2010)". Australian Fun Countdowns. Retrieved 2015-08-04.
  23. ↑ Austrian certifications ifpi.at Archived 2010-02-01 at WebCite (Retrieved August 20, 2008)
  24. ↑ UK certifications Bpi.co.uk (Retrieved August 20, 2008)
  25. ↑ U.S. certifications riaa.com (Retrieved August 20, 2008)
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