Released: September 11, 1990

Songwriter: LA Reid Babyface

Producer: LA Reid Babyface

[Intro]
I can be a trip but I choose not to
Deep inside of you, I think there's still good in you, boy
Don't give me no reason not to trust you
Just take the benefit, don't give me no lip
And I'll be sweet to you

Trying to understand you right, boy
So you need some time to work it out, work it
Well, there's really no need to fuss and fight, no
All I want is for you to try and work it out

[Verse 1]
Lately, I've been trying to figure out your mind
And why you keep dissin' me
Poor little me
And why you have a change of heart and turn it all around
And then try to put it on me
Poor little me

[Pre-Chorus]
But don't you know
I could be a trip, I could make things hard
But baby, I believe that you still got a heart
That's why I
Try to stop myself before I start
'Cause I could make it tough, I could make it rough
But I won't

[Chorus]
Well, I'll be giving you the benefit
Of the doubt
Givin' you a minute to
Try to work it on out
I'll be givin' you the benefit
Of the doubt
And I'm giving you a minute to
Try to work it on out
Baby, work it on, work it on out
(Work, work, work)
Baby, work it on, work it on out
(Work, work, work)

[Verse 2]
Baby, how could you be hangin' out on the town
And claim that you're missin' me
Poor little me
When you knew all the time that you could've been with your homegirl
Lovin' and a kissin' on me
Sweet little me

[Pre-Chorus]
But don't you know
If you wanna be a man, you gotta work real hard
If you wanna make me feel I'm like your number one and
Nothin' in the world should make us part
'Cause we can make it work
If you take away the hurt
From the heart

[Chorus]
Well, I'll be giving you the benefit
Of the doubt
Givin' you a minute to
Try to work it on out
I'll be givin' you the benefit
Of the doubt
And I'm giving you a minute to
Try to work it on out
Baby, work it on, work it on out
(Work, work, work)
Work it, baby
(Work, work, work)
Try to work it on, work it on, work it on, work it on out
(Work, work, work)
Work it, baby
(Work, work, work)
Keep tryin' to work it on out

[Bridge]
I could be a trip but I choose not to
Deep inside of you
I think there's still good in you, boy
Don't give me no reason not to trust you
Just take the benefit, don't give me no lip
And I'll be sweet to you

Trying to understand you right, boy
So you need some time to work it out, work it
Well, there's really no need to fuss and fight, no
All I want is for you to try and work it out

I'll be giving you a minute or two
To try and work it out
I wanna work it, baby
I'll be giving you a minute or two
To try and work it out
But don't you take too long, baby

[Chorus]
I'll be giving you the benefit
Of the doubt
And I'm giving you a minute to
Try to work it on out
I'll be giving you the benefit
Of the doubt
I'm giving you a minute to
Try to work it on out
I'll be giving you the benefit
Of the doubt
And I'm giving you a minute to
Try to work it on out

I'll be giving you the benefit
Of the doubt
And I'm giving you a minute to
Try to work it on out

Baby, work it on, work it on out
(Work, work, work)
Work it, baby
(Work, work, work)
Try to work it on, work it on, work it on, work it on out
(Work, work, work)
Work it, baby
(Work, work, work)
Keep tryin' to work it on out

[Bridge]
I wanna give it, I'm giving you the benefit
I wanna give it, I'm giving you the benefit
I wanna give it, I'm giving you the benefit
I wanna give it, I'm giving you the benefit
I wanna give it, I'm giving you the benefit
I wanna give it, I'm giving you the benefit
I wanna give it, I'm giving you the benefit
I wanna give it, I'm giving you the benefit

I'll be giving you a minute or two
To try and work it out
I wanna work it, baby
I'll be giving you a minute or two
To try and work it out
But don't you take too long, baby

[Chorus]
I'll be giving you the benefit
Of the doubt
And I'm giving you a minute to
Try to work it on out
I'll be giving you the benefit
Of the doubt
I'm giving you a minute to
Try to work it on out

Pebbles

Pebbles (born Perri McKissack on August 29, 1964) is a singer-songwriter from the Bay Area. She got her start as a back-up singer for the Vallejo-based group Con Funk Shun in the early 1980s before breaking through with her self-titled debut album in 1987. Her first big single from the album was the L.A. Reid & Babyface-produced hit “Girlfriend,” which hit #1 on the R&B Singles chart and peaked at #5 on the pop chart. She followed that up with her biggest single “Mercedes Boy,” which also topped the R&B Singles chart while peaking at #2 on both the Billboard Hot 100 & Dance charts.

Her 1990 sophomore album Always was primarily written and produced by L.A. & Face. The album featured the #1 R&B singles “Giving You the Benefit” and her duet with Babyface “Love Makes Things Happen” as well as the Top 5 R&B hit “Backyard” with Salt-N-Pepa. On a personal note, R&B singer Cherrelle is her cousin and she was featured on the title track along with Johnny Gill.

Prior to the release of Always, Pebbles and L.A. Reid married in 1989. Following the release of that album, she began managing TLC under her Pebbitone company while they signed to LaFace Records. TLC filed for bankruptcy in 1995 and cited mismanagement by Pebbles as a source of their financial issues. This situation took a toll on her marriage to L.A. Reid and he filed for divorced the same year.