LOS ANGELES — Rapper M-Bone, a member of the platinum
hip-hop group Cali Swag District, was killed in a drive-by shooting in
Inglewood, Calif., on Sunday night, police said.
The shooting took place about 10:30 p.m. in the 400
block of North La Brea Avenue, Inglewood police said. M-Bone, whose real
name is Montae Talbert, was shot twice in the head while seated in the
driver’s side of a black car. He was taken to a local hospital, where he
died.
The suspects fled northbound on La Brea. Police were
not immediately identifying Talbert until his relatives could be
notified, but he was named in several media reports.
“Ma life changed drastically in the. Blink of an eye
rip mbone,” Talbert’s band mate Smoove Da General posted on his Twitter
account.
Until 2009, Cali Swag District was composed of four
anonymous Inglewood teenagers making R&B/ hip-hop hybrids. Then it
filmed the video for “Teach Me How to Dougie,” setting off a huge dance
craze.
“Teach Me How to Dougie” reached No. 6 on the
Billboard rap singles charts and sold roughly 2 million legal downloads.
Justin Bieber taught Ellen DeGeneres how to Dougie, and Ryan Seacrest
and Jennifer Lopez gave it a whirl on “American Idol.”
M-Bone was the dancer of the quartet. In a video on
the group’s website, he said his favorite artists included Eminem, Jamie
Foxx and R. Kelly, and Justin Timberlake. Shirtless to show off his
tattoos, he also said his favorite website was Twitter because “when I’m
bored I can just jump on Twitter and find a funny post.”
The site says the group planned to release an album,
“Kickback,” on Oct. 12. After the death became public, fans flooded his
Facebook page with memorial messages.
“Missed by Millions, but Neva forgotton,” read one post.
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