Cali Swag District Open Up About M-Bone’s Tragic Death and ‘Kickback’ Album

When 22-year-old Cali Swag District member/choreographer Montae Talbert, aka M-Bone (pictured on the far left), was gunned down on May 15, the three remaining CSD rappers -- Corey Fawler (C-Smoove), Chante Glee (Yung), and Cahron Childs (JayAre) -- of the 'Teach Me How to Dougie' outfit were in a complete state of shock. The three Cali Swag guys recently spoke to Billboard about their fallen friend and their new album 'Kickback.'

The group was planning on hitting the recording studio after returning from a trip out of town when M-Bone was shot twice in the head outside of a liquor store in Inglewood, Calif. Fawler actually witnessed the murder on that fateful evening as he was driving by. "As I went past his car, shots were fired," said Fowler, who sped off after seeing his friend and collaborator slumped over the steering wheel of his car. "I almost crashed. I ran a red light ... 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."

Ever since M-Bone's shocking death in the shooting, the trio have had a hard time coping as they search for answers as to why their friend was murdered. Fowler, 20, said, "It's mind-boggling. What was the cause, what was the reason? And we really don't know. It eats me up every day. When I wake up in the morning, I just want to know why."

Although M-Bone didn't actually rap in Cali Swag District, he acted as the group's main dancer and choreographer, and often gave the other guys advice on the new material they would record. "He would let us know if it was something that people could dance to, because he was always dancing," Fowler continued during the interview. "And he would let us know if a song was kind of boring, he would just sit there and look at his phone most of the time." Yung also said, "And now if it's a song that we think is cool, we be looking around like 'Dang, we ain't got nobody.'"

Although their worlds have been rocked by the murder of M-Bone, which police in Calif. are still investigating, they are still planning to release their latest album 'Kickback' -- which will pay tribute to M-Bone -- on July 12. Cali Swag District worked on perfecting the album to breakout of the one-hit wonder mold. 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 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.'"

Even though they are pushing forward, Yung explained that the remaining three CSD members will never be the same. "I mean, it's going to always feel different, because we started out with four -- four of us in the studio, four of us would be here right now," he said. "We've just got to keep our heads up, keep grinding. There's nothing else we can do."

Watch the Cali Swag District 'Teach Me How to Dougie' Video