Cheryl 'Salt' James Says Drake & Salt-N-Pepa UMG Lawsuits Aren't The Same

Salt-N-Pepa are currently in the fight of their career in hopes of getting their masters reverted to them from Universal Music Group ... Cheryl 'Salt' James outlines it as "Big Guy vs. Lil Guy" -- but don't confuse their case with Drake's lawsuit!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with Salt in Manhattan on Wednesday ... she and her longtime groupmate Sandra "Pepa" Denton sued UMG back in May, citing a contract breach that hasn't been honored, but Salt tells us things have "unusually" gone cold in the case.

Salt explains that their original contract specified they'd get their masters back after 35 years ... but it's now been 40 and they're still waiting for justice to be served.

To add insult to injury, Salt says it was UMG who pulled the bulk of their music off streaming services, but she says fans have been overwhelmingly supportive.

UMG told us the records will show they've attempted to resolve the situation with SNP on multiple occasions, in spite of "unreasonable demands" and improperly filed documents.

Surprisingly enough, Salt was NOT in support of Drake's accusations that UMG propped up Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" diss in an effort to lower his stock as an artist.