Bell Biv DeVoe’s “Poison” wasn’t just a hit: it was a revolution. This infectious track, dropped in 1990, successfully fused R&B, hip-hop, and funk into a bold new sound that defined the New Jack Swing era. Now, more than three decades later, its influence remains undeniable, as its hard-hitting beats, slick production, and unforgettable hook helped bridge the gap between rap and mainstream radio and shaped the sound of R&B, hip-hop, and even pop music for years to come.
However, to really understand the impact “Poison” had on the music industry, it’s really important to understand the musical landscape of the late ’80s and early ’90s. To be fair, musical crossovers weren’t really a novelty in the 1980s; rock and roll music of the 1950s and ’60s itself was a crossover genre, blending genres such as blues, country, and R&B with artists like Ray Charles and Elvis Presley popularizing the music across racial and genre lines. However, crossovers did become more frequent and deliberate during the late ’80s and early ’90s.
PIN ITSuddenly, traditional R&B, characterized by smooth melodies and soulful ballads, was mixed with hip-hop, which was still carving out its space as a raw, unrefined, and unfiltered street sound. American musician and record producer Teddy Riley, credited with the creation of R&B and hip-hop fusion — known as new jack swing — had been experimenting with blending the elements of these two genres going back as early as 1985.
But Bell Biv DeVoe, a trio formed by former New Edition members (Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins, and Ronnie DeVoe), and their song, “Poison,” took new swing jack to new heights. The song was originally written and later produced by Elliot Straite, also known by his pseudonym Dr. Freeze. In fact, “Poison” wasn’t even a song. It was a personal love letter to Straite’s former girlfriend at the time. However, he rewrote the love letter into a song that not many of his friends liked, with many calling it outright weird. Nonetheless, he put the music together and planned to feature the song on his own album.
PIN ITStraite ended up having two songs for his album, with “Poison” being one of the two. However, when Bell Biv DeVoe heard his demo version, they absolutely loved it, so they formed a collaboration. BBD worked closely with Straite to tailor the song to their own style, infusing it with their streetwise swagger, dynamic choreography, and tight harmonics. The resulting track was transformed from a love letter turned into a musical demo turned into an era-defining anthem. In the end, it wasn’t just a love song but an absolute hit.
Straite remained a key collaborator, also producing other songs on BBD’s debut album called Poison, released in 1990. But the single was the actual hit. Sure, the album performed well, but the song skyrocketed to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and dominated the R&B charts. In fact, “Poison” became one of the most successful songs of 1990. More importantly, it bridged the gap between hip-hop and mainstream radio. Before that, hip-hop faced massive resistance from pop stations.
PIN ITIn retrospect, BBD’s success wasn’t just about the chart but also about exposure.
The song’s high-energy music video showed sync choreography, street fashion, and undeniable swagger, and the exposure to the audiences through MTV and pop radio helped bring hip-hop into the mainstream and helped normalize hip-hop aesthetics, further influencing whole generations of future musicians who would go on to seamlessly blend singing and rapping in their music.
So, while “Poison” wasn’t the most sampled track of the 90s, its DNA still runs deep in modern music. Artists like Usher, Justin Timberlake, Bruno Mars, and many others now owe a debt to the song’s genre-mixing approach simply because it helped reinforce the idea that R&B artists could embrace hip-hop production without losing their mainstream appeal, and the success of that idea paved the way for other music genres to do the same.
PIN ITNow, more than three decades later, “Poison” is still regarded as the new jack swing anthem that redefined ’90s music; it has been covered, referenced, and interpolated by countless other artists since it came out. Not to mention that it was, and still is, used in movies, TV shows, and social media videos. It even influenced the fashion and dance culture of the ’90s and early 2000s. Put simply, it was more than just a chart-topping single: it was a statement of musical revolution.
With all of that said, it doesn’t always get the recognition as some other popular sampled songs from the 1990s, and with the rise of streaming and algorithmic complacency, it’s actually quite easy to take “Poison” for granted nowadays. But its legacy is undeniable: it turned backup singers into stars and reshaped modern music.