Bell Biv Devoe’s “Poison” was one of the biggest hits of 1990. Rapper Kwame ghostwrote one of the verses, but he actually thought the record was terrible the first time he heard it.
“The lyrics that ended up making the record were [Ronnie Devoe’s] rhyme,” Kwame told Hip-Hop Wired. “I was hanging out with Mike Bivins. It was me, Mike Bivins and Dana Dane, we were going to a club, somewhere. And [Bivins] put in a tape of the demo of ‘Poison.’ No disrespect, I love the record now, but when I heard the demo I swore it was the worst thing I ever heard in my life.”
Like the current prospects of a New Edition biopic without Bobby Brown, Kwame wasn’t hearing it.
He added, “I was like, Y’all gonna put this out? He was like, Yeah man, me, Ronnie and Rick, we going to do a group called BBD. [I’m like], Who wanna see y’all three? I wanna see New Edition! All this breaking up, Bobby solo, Ralph doing his thing, now y’all…what happened to New Edition?!”
No worries, Kwame put the pen to a napkin and got paid for his contribution. And if you’re under the false impression that he’s a washed OG rapper; Vivian Green is signed to his label, Make Noise Records, and he still tours.
Check out more of what this Hip-Hop pioneer is up to in the interview below.
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Photo: Hip-Hop Wired
