Simone WilsonUpdate: TMZ is live-streaming Talbert's vigil at the liquor store. He gave us “Teach Me How to Dougie,” says the reverend. “He touched lives … he was a dancing machine,” says his grandmother. “You couldn't stop him.” A circle of young people climb on a car hood and do the Doug in memoriam.
Update: TMZ wildly speculates that M-Bone's murder was tied to a Twitter war over a girl, while the Los Angeles Times quotes his publicist as saying it was “a random act of violence.” We're not buying either theory. Here's why, after the jump. Originally posted at 8:30 a.m.
Montae Talbert, the 22-year-old Los Angeles County rapper known by his Cali Swag District crew as M-Bone, was shot to death last night in what TMZ is calling “a random act of violence.”
Talbert was reportedly standing next to his car in front of an Inglewood liquor store at 11:32 p.m. when he came under gunfire from a vehicle driving down La Brea Avenue.
Inglewood police will only say Talbert's death is “under investigation,” but TMZ speculates that “it looks like M-Bone was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.” According to City News Service, the rapper was “pronounced dead early this morning at Harbor UCLA Medical Center.”
Update: Inglewood homicide detectives say Talbert was found dead in the driver's seat of his black vehicle with two bullets in his head. The liquor store was located on the 400 block on North La Brea.
MTV News reports that “witness accounts confirm that the rapper was seated in his car when the gunmen pulled alongside him in a separate vehicle and let off at least two rounds. The suspects fled northbound on La Brea.”
Cali Swag District's website offers the following bio on M-Bone, one of four members who invented and popularized the “Dougie” in 2010:
Birthdate: 9/17 – VirgoDream Date: Alicia Keys
Fun Fact: Although the group has a lot of tattoos, he will probably be the one to end up with the most.
Favorite Video Game: Madden
Favorite Clothing Brand: Misfits
Favorite Movie: “Boyz n the Hood” because it reminds him of when he grew up in LA.
Place to visit: Europe
At 1:45, M-Bone teaches us how to Dougie:
This morning, Cali Swag District member Smoove Tweeted that he was “crushed” over Talbert's death.
Though M-Bone and his crew rep their Inglewood hometown hard, the Dougie actually originated down South. From a January interview on their signature dance:
“The idea came from one our friends, and the dance was originated in Dallas, Texas. The move was actually invented by Dougie Fresh and he used to do that move to show how 'good' his haircut was or how 'fresh' he looked. In Dallas it was known as the 'D-Town' boogie, but we just called it the 'Dougie' over here.”
Update: A crude civilian investigation into Talbert's murder is going down on the Internet.
After calling the shooting “a random act of violence” based on a supposed conversation with cops, TMZ is now claiming there was a motive: girl wars, via Twitter.
Our sources say M-Bone's friends have been in touch with cops, telling investigators after he got back to L.A. from his tour, he got involved with a girl. M-Bone's friends say a guy who lived in the woman's building didn't like the relationship, and allegedly began threatening M-Bone via Twitter.We're told M-Bone did not back down and the two men started cyber smack-talking each other.
TMZ has learned … the black car in which M-Bone was shot is registered to the woman.
TMZ's sourcing is, as usual, all anonymous — we can only speculate as to who provided this information. WebProNews follows up by eyeing the following Tweets as the aforementioned suspicious activity:
But @NewNew_Monroe was only a female friend of Talbert's, and confirms to us via Twitter that “its not me they talkin bout.” Also, M-Bone's deleted Twitpic doesn't appear to have been about anything too serious, as it's prefaced by an “lol.”
Of course, it's no secret @MbOoONe loved to Tweet:
Another of his friends, @QT_Kimistri, posted the last known picture of Talbert, taken at her house right before he died last night. She tells Global Grind that she didn't know of any beef, but that Talbert was acting especially mellow, and that “there was some interesting stuff going on.”
Here's the photo she Tweeted:
Inglewood Police Detective Steve Overly confirms that the victim's car was not registered under his name, but won't say who, exactly, was the owner.
As for the “random act of violence” claims, vetted by the Los Angeles Times: It's way too early to know. Of course M-Bone's Cali Swag District homies and publicist are saying as much; no one close to the artist would want him to come off as having asked for it, if only out of respect for the deceased.
“Right now we don't have any information that he was the target of anything,” says Overly — but he stresses that the investigation has only just begun.
Plus, witnesses tell TMZ (again, grain of salt) that “the shooter fired, left, then pulled a U-turn and came back around, possibly to see if he hit his target.” The intent and accuracy of the crime, as it's been reported so far, would make it a strange act of randomness. Two bullets to the head, as noted by one commenter, can also be a sign of a gang hit.
In regard to M-Bone's Twitter activity, Overly tells the Weekly: “We have not looked at that yet. But all of that information will be reviewed, and some information might come out of that.”
In other words, it's way too early to know. Keep us posted with any background you might have, as well as Inglewood homicide detectives, at (310) 412-5246.
[@simone_electra/swilson@laweekly.com]
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