Slaying stuns ‘Dougie’ crew

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES

Corey Fowler was driving when he heard the gunshots that killed his friend and bandmate Montae Talbert outside an Inglewood liquor store.

Members of Cali Swag District had just returned from a trip out of town and were set to meet up at a studio on the night of May 15.

“As I went past his car, shots were fired,” said Fowler, who goes by Smoove in the hip-hop group. After viewing the scene — Talbert slumped over a steering wheel with two gunshots to the head —Fowler sped off. “I almost crashed. I ran a red light,” he said. “I just panicked. And I was screaming and driving at the same time. I wasn’t even on the seat, I was pulling the steering wheel so hard.”

The man who taught the nation how to Dougie was dead. Twenty-two-year-old Talbert, who went by M-Bone, was the lead dancer and choreographer whose limber moves in the “Teach Me How To Dougie” video had been mimicked by everyone from Michelle Obama to Justin Bieber to model Kate Upton.

While the group had found YouTube and Billboard chart success with that single, first released in April 2010, they had struggled with the next step. No follow-up song caught fire like “Dougie” and their album was on hold through much of last year. They kept recording in hopes of avoiding one-hit-wonder status.

“It’s a good thing and it’s a bad thing. We want people to know that we are more than just the Dougie boys,” said Chante Glee, 22, who goes by Yung. “Some people don’t even know that our name is Cali Swag District. They just know the Dougie boys: ‘Those are the boys that do the Dougie.”’

That sudden stardom made them stand out in the poor, gang-ridden Inglewood neighborhood where they grew up. The three remaining members say they’ve stayed out of gangs and even been waved away from parties by gang members who don’t want them to ruin their success.