DJ Spinderella

Biography

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Roper was one of five children. Roper's 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 fourteen. During her sophomore year in high school, Roper began dating a local DJ who she learned DJ techniques from. Shortly thereafter, Roper 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 Herbie "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 just before the group were due to appear at the Westchester Music Festival in late–1986. The group's original DJ, Latoya Hanson, had missed several rehearsals and group appearances, and the group was actively looking for a replacement. Before auditioning Roper, Salt-n-Pepa had offered the spot to then-unknown radio and TV personality Ricki Lake. Roper was selected as the group's DJ, taking the name Spinderella, around the time the group's first album was being released. Since she was sixteen at the time of joining, Ropers' parents had to give permission for Roper to travel around the country. The trio would go on to become one of the most successful female hip-hop acts of all time. They released five studio albums and saw several platinum and gold singles. Spinderella has also produced several songs on the group's albums. The group disbanded in 2002, before reforming in 2007.

From 2003 to 2006, Spinderella worked as a radio personality on the now-defunct KKBT 100.3 in Los Angeles, California, co-hosting "The BackSpin", a nationally syndicated weekly radio show featuring old school hip-hop. She also appeared in several episodes of the VH1 reality series The Salt N Pepa Show. From September 2010 to March 2011, Roper did middays at KSOC-94.5 "K-Soul" in Dallas, Texas. Spinderella is part of the American Diabetes Association Celebrity Cabinet, a TV ONE UnSung Ambassador, supporter of Saving Our Daughters Mentoring Program, and founder of the Spinderella DJ Academy. Roper appeared briefly on VH1's first annual Hip Hop Honors in November 2004, with her group members, but they did not perform. All three members did perform on the second Hip Hop Honors on September 22, 2005. This was their first performance as Salt-N-Pepa since 1999. In 2007, she acted as DJ for The Comedy Central Roast of Flavor Flav. On October 23, 2008, the group performed their hit singles "Shoop", "Push It", and "Whatta Man" at the 2008 BET Hip Hop Awards. DJ Spinderella replaced temporary DJ Wendy Williams (The Wendy Williams Show) during Salt-N-Pepa's performance of "Push It", first airing December 18, 2015.

Personal life

In 1992, Spinderella appeared in the film Stay Tuned. That same year, she also had her first and only child, a daughter named Christy, with NBA basketball player Kenny Anderson. In 1996, she appeared in the film Kazaam which starred Shaquille O'Neal. 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 Salt-N-Pepa's record label, Red Ant, ceased operations. Her daughter Christy later appeared in an episode of My Super Sweet 16, throwing herself a party which included skaters and dancers. In 2010, Spinderella relocated to Dallas, Texas.