Life lessons from Bell Biv Devoe...

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At 8 years old I was hardly capable of understanding the social and political structure of America. Nevertheless I was fascinated by Public Enemy's It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back. It wasn't until I was much older that I really began to understand the significance of the words Chuck D was so vehemently speaking. In a similar situation, when I was 10 years old I had yet to be "seasoned" enough to understand the importance of a line like "never trust a big butt and a smile". It wasn't until my over-inflated hormones took precedent in those perverted high school days that I began to slightly understand the scandalous nature of some females. The point I'm making is that music, good music in particular, can withstand time and can have a complete different meaning depending on what stage of life you are in. In the context of my life, Bell Biv Devoe's Poison is one of those records.

I dug this out of the archives a few weeks back and it has been getting a lot of burn lately. Now that I've lived well into my 20s and have had my fair share of scandalous females, I'm much more prepared to understand what this record was really about. Aside from being a very well produced album (which I'm just finding out was co-produced by The Bomb Squad), the highlight of the record isn't the actual singing but it's how vividly BBD described their brash sexacapades. Any young man can stand to learn a few things from BBD.

Poison- This is the song that spawned one of the greatest lines in music history; "Never trust a big butt and a smile". So next time that little "tenderoni" with the big ass smiles at you and asks you to buy her a drink, remind yourself of Bell Biv Devoe not T-Pain.

I Thought It Was Me- So you found yourself a little freak, huh?! Well don't think she wasn't freakin' before you met her. As men we would all love to think we were the ones that turned her out, but chances are it wasn't yo ass!

Do Me!- "Kinda wet, don't forget, the J-the I-the M- the M- the Y.." Don't get yourself caught up in baby mama drama, strap it up and play it safe. Ricky, Ronnie and Mike were definitely having a lot of groupie love but at least they were smart enough to pack extra jimmy hats.

There's so much to learn from BBD's Poison but those were just a few of the highlights. If you're over the age of 25 you need this in your collection. Go get it!