They sparked a nationwide dance craze, but Cali Swag District -- after the death of fourth member M-Bone last month -- want to move beyond the Dougie.
"We want people to know that we are more than just the Dougie boys. 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," said rapper Yung. "You've got to look deeper into Cali Swag District. We four dudes. Well, there's three right here, but we're still four dudes that have a story to tell."
The group from Inglewood first released "Teach Me How To Dougie" in April 2010, and since had struggled to get their full-length album released on Capitol Records. Then in May, Montae Talbert was killed in a drive-by shooting in their hometown. Police have made no arrests.
"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," Yung said. "But you know, it's going to always feel different. We've just got to keep our heads up, keep grinding. There's nothing else we can do."
M-Bone didn't rap or produce, but led the group's dancing and performances.
"He would let us know if it was something that people could dance to, because he was always dancing," said DJ-rapper C-Smoove. "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. So we went off what he would say or what he would do sometimes."
"And now like if it's a song that we think is cool, we be looking around like 'Dang, we ain't got nobody," Yung said. "Judge M-Bone."
C-Smoove said he was nearby when the shooting occurred on the Sunday night of May 15.
"I was pretty much driving by. As I crossed -- as I went past his car, shots were fired. I sped up and I came back. And when I came back, I saw the scene," he said. "I almost crashed. I ran a red light. I cut off this car and it could have ran into my driver's side. ... 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."
Police haven't released a motive in the killing, and the group members say they aren't involved in gangs and can't understand why M-Bone would have been targeted.
"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," C-Smoove said. "It's not like it's going to change anything. You know. But it's always in the back of my mind. Like, why? Always."
The group released a tribute song titled "How To Do That" -- an upbeat song fit for their former group member to dance to. It's included on their current mixtape "Deeper Than The Dougie."
"It was like -- I'm listening to the beat and I just started thinking about everything that Bone would do if he heard the beat and how he would have fun, and everything that we used to do all the time. We went to clubs, we had shows and everything. So I just start writing about all that -- basically all the fun stuff," Yung said.
The group's debut album, "The Kickback" is set for release next month.
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