Cali Swag District's M-Bone Dead: 'Teach Me How To Dougie' Rapper Shot To Death Sunday Night

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — M-Bone of the rap group Cali Swag District, which scored a hit last year with the song "Teach Me How to Dougie," was killed in a weekend drive-by shooting as he sat in a car outside a liquor store, police said Monday.

The 22-year-old Inglewood man, whose real name is Mante Ray Talbert, was sitting in the driver's seat of his car shortly after 10:30 p.m. Sunday.

"Another car pulled alongside, gunshots were fired, and the victim was struck twice in the head," Lt. James Madia said. A man sitting in the passenger seat of Talbert's car was not injured, Lt. Gabriel Garcia said.

Talbert was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Lt. Steve Overly said the motive for the attack was under investigation. Several theories have been put forward on social media sites and detectives were following up on some of those to see if they were credible, he said.

Talbert was "the victim of a random act of violence," Cali Swag District's publicist Greg Miller said in a statement.

"He was a hardworking, passionate artist and dancer that will be deeply missed," Miller said.

Witnesses gave varying descriptions of the fleeing car, Madia said.

Bandmate C-Smoove tweeted Monday that his life changed drastically in the blink of an eye, and added "rip mbone."

"He was the life of the group," C-Smoove told KABC-TV as he wiped away tears with his shirt. "He made us laugh, he was the energy."

Dozens of friends, fans and family members gathered outside the liquor store Monday evening and held a vigil for Talbert.

Cali Swag District's hit "Teach Me How to Dougie" is based on the "Dougie" dance, which first appeared in Texas and is noted for its leaning stances, shoulder and arm movements.

The dance was not only performed in dance clubs and the streets but by celebrities as well, from Wolf Blitzer to Washington Wizards star John Wall; even first lady Michelle Obama recently performed the dance as part of her "Let's Move" initiative.

"Teach Me How to Dougie" spent several months in the top 10 of Billboard's hot rap songs. The group also performed the dance on several television shows.

Comments

[lemywincks]

12:53 AM on 05/30/2011

someone shoulda taught him how to duckie

[Haley Keyser]

11:26 AM on 05/22/2011

Just because you dont no how to dougie dont mean u have to take it out on a inecent victom

[murdamass978]

04:09 AM on 05/26/2011

word life theres about more than about 80 thousand college students that would push your lids back for killin mbone especiallyy massachusetts Haley there def mad bcos they cant dougie and mass kids got the thirty eight snubbys

[bushfailure]

06:14 PM on 05/19/2011

I'm an old white guy, but I liked the youthful energy of Cali Swag. It is so sad to see a young man on the cusp of success and all the benefits that come with this to lose his life. So sad.
The young men who shot him are lost souls. I can't say for sure in this case, but you can bet the murderers who killed M-Bone had no fathers. That is where the crime begins.

[Penny Dreadful]

02:39 PM on 05/19/2011

Shame, and they were such eloquent, uplifting, decent young poets:
http://www.urbanlyrics.com/lyrics/caliswagdistrict/youneedthat.html

Their lyrics are full of references to "stealing" "sl_ts" and "b_tches" from their boyfriends. That's apparently what the shooting was over. Live by the sword?

The worst part? The "no snitching" ghetto code of silence means this will probably never be solved like so many similar cases.

[topher01]

11:45 PM on 05/20/2011

Of course. Not liking someone's poetry, art, product of their labor, is always a valid justification for killing them. By that logic we should also have killed Madonna, Jim Morrison, D.H. Lawrence, Robert Mapplethorpe, Henry Miller, Vladimir Nabokov, Oscar Wilde, Pablo Picasso, Marcel Duchamp, Hugh Hefner, J.D. Salinger, The Beatles, Elvis Presley, etc. All those people and many, many more endured threats of violence or death because their art was controversial. I don't like rap and hip-hop any better than most other middle-aged white guys. It's rude, crass, depressing, misogynistic, violent noise. It's Glenn Beck with a beat. It's also a mirror held up to the society and culture that inner-city youth live with every day. So, don't blame the messenger, and don't ever excuse violence because you dislike the victim. That puts you on the same moral plane as the people who committed the act.

[nermz345]

12:34 PM on 05/30/2011

fanned and faved

[iGigoloJoe]

01:23 PM on 07/06/2011

Who's saying killings are justified? Lots of Straw you're using there Man.. Only that it's hardly surprising - it's not the most positive, uplifting world they choose to inhabit and insist on boring most of us with 'authentic' tales of thug life in the ghetto. The violence will only get worse until everyone stops making excuses and music can rise above the petty, venal, inhuman culture.

The point is made that it is unlikely the killers will be brought to justice and M-Bone is currently another sorry statistic.

And comparing Cali Swag's "poetry" to Oscar Wilde and the Beatles???

[iGigoloJoe]

12:50 PM on 07/06/2011

Fanned & Faved

[Erica Edwards]

08:38 AM on 05/19/2011

A lot of people are wondering when will this stop, I'm sorry folks it won't; as long as we have parents who allow their children to listen to song that idolize murderers, rapists, gang type behaviors, and a blatant disrespect for authority and oneself. Some of these parents listen to this music as well so it's a lose lose for both. Seems no one in the black community, or any community for that matter, is exempt from these random acts violence from black young men who don't care about you because they don't care about themselves, and a person with no hope for their future is eager to take yours too. The rap industry is breeding a race to hate and destroy each other. It's a sad reality, and as long as this disparaging phenomenon continues, the only thing we can really wonder is who's next?

[Anti-Panoptic]

02:39 AM on 05/19/2011

This is ridiculously sad, where is the black panther party when you need them? (Im talking about the original group :Huey P, Cleaver, Seale, Elaine Brown.) Its when I see news like this that I just have to shake my head and try not to feel like I need to hide my skin when in public.

[Salathiel Maynard]

05:16 PM on 05/18/2011

thats real crazy how culd yaw say some of the things yaw are sayin this was a man my age it pittiful how we gotta grow up in this an we end up with the short side of life i lost many loved one to thing of this nature it makes people bitter

[natalie7]

11:15 AM on 05/18/2011

too bad he gets killed when his famous money making song is about dancing not drug dealing. too bad nobody taught him how to get out of Inglewood.

[NCScientist]

07:36 PM on 05/17/2011

Teach me how to dookie.

[mamapower]

06:55 PM on 05/17/2011

Horrible!!

[General Public]

06:46 PM on 05/17/2011

At least 2pac is still alive...

[ThinkGlobal]

02:35 PM on 05/17/2011

RIP...so sad, so young, so fresh and talented. Needless violence and any kind of rivalry should not result in murder (ever). My heart goes out to his parents and siblings. Never learned to Dougie but loved the song.

[exsconsin]

01:12 PM on 05/17/2011

The guy who taught me how to dougie is gonna have to learn to move it like bern

[Crixus]

12:59 PM on 05/17/2011

who?
well in the rap field seem like they perpetuate violence and guns.. so this is not surprising.. its sad.

[DeeDaw]

01:28 PM on 05/17/2011

You are so ignorant.

What part of his music perpetuated violence and guns??

"Well in the white field they perpetuate racism and ignorance so your comment is not surprising"

[Liz Turoski]

01:56 PM on 05/17/2011

I don't know anything about Mante Ray's music and I'm not the poster who said rap perpetuates violence and guns.

However, I'm curious about your comment that 'White" music perpetuates racism and ignorance. This is clearly not true, and I assume that it's just a knee-jerk reaction to the other poster's comment.

On the other hand, there is plenty of evidence that rap promotes violence, misogyny, murder and other crimes. There seems to be an inordinate number of rappers who have died similar deaths, and I don't think the boys who drove by and shot Mante Ray were listening to country music.

[Kirsten Jackson]

02:09 PM on 05/17/2011

This is some 22-year-old kid who wore skinny jeans and rapped about a silly dance move. Hardly a thug.

[Crixus]

03:40 PM on 05/17/2011

did you hear me call him that? no you didnt.. I said the INDUSTRY perpetuates thug life.. and for whaterver reason .. this kid has been caught up in the crossfire... we don't know the details.

[Young Peoples]

12:58 PM on 05/17/2011

Thats sad.