Fo in the basement

Hi Wendy.

Thanks for writing and I'm glad you like the site. To answer your question, the lyrics before he mentions the fo are pretty sexy, which might be confusing, because if he's talking about a fo, there's nothing sexy or romantic about the words that follow. He tells the woman, “I am gettin so hot, I wanna take my clothes off… ”But when she doesn't take hers off fast enough, he gets impatient.

Stop placin, time wastin

I gotta friend with a fo’ in the basement (What?)

I'm just kiddin like Jason (Oh)

A fo is a 44 Magnum handgun, which ought to convince her Nelly is right. On the other hand, given the preceding lyrics, it seems as likely that Nelly is saying “with a pole in the basement ” - like a stripper's pole.

The more difficult question is about “Jason.” Jason Epperson is Nelly's frequent producer. However, since he's talking about someone hiding in the basement, it could be a reference to the character Jason in the horror movie series Friday the 13th. In at least one of those movies, the evil Jason waits in the basement for his victims to arrive.

Your pal,

A. C. Kemp

Note: Since originally answering this question a few months ago, I've gotten a lot of mail about it, primarily concerned with the identity of “Jason.” One reader suggested that “kidding like Jason ”is a reference to basketball player Jason Kidd. However, an important fact that I learned later is that producer Jason Epperson has a massive recording studio in his basement, called Basement Beats (where there may or may not be a stripper's pole). Nelly doesn't have lyrics available on his site, but more internet users think he's saying pole by about two to one.