DJ Spinderella sues Salt-N-Pepa over unpaid royalties

Salt-N-Pepa with DJ Spinderella (centre) in 1987. Photo / Supplied

Salt-N-Pepa are being sued by their former bandmate, DJ Spinderella, who claims she missed out on millions in royalties due to the pair.

TMZ reports that Spinderella is suing Cheryl 'Salt' James, 53, Sandra 'Pepa' Denton, 52 for unpaid royalties, trademark infringement, fraud and breach of contract.

The DJ, whose real name is Deidra Roper, claims the issues started with Salt-N-Pepa's Best Of album, which was released in 1999.

She says she was promised a third of the royalties from that record and that Pepa told her she would be paid $US125,000 but that she never saw that money.

Cheryl James, Sandra Denton and Deidra Roper of Salt-N-Pepa attend a fundraiser in 2016. Photo / Getty

Spinderella goes on to say that she was again promised a third of the royalties from The Salt N Pepa Show which ran in 2007 but she did not receive her share of the money from the reality show.

The 47-year-old claims she received nothing from the group's performance at the 2018 Billboard Music Awards and has heard nothing about a new Lifetime miniseries about the band.

She says the final straw was when Sound Exchange, which handles the distribution of royalties to artists, informed her that Salt-N-Pepa had earned more than $US600,000 over the past 10 years but she was not given any of that money.

Spinderella is also claiming trademark infringements, saying Salt-N-Pepa continue to use her name to promote performances.

Salt-N-Pepa, who formed in 1985, were the first all-female rap ground to go platinum and won Best Rap Performance at the 1995 Grammys.

They had a string of hits including Push It, Shoop, Let's Talk About Sex and Whatta Man.