This should be a time to celebrate for B2K. The teen R&B sensations, coming off a hot year in which they had a No. 1 song and another best-selling album, were about to take their success up a notch with their debut in the dance-heavy, teen-oriented flick “You Got Served,” which opens Friday.
But a month ago the foursome — Omarion (Omari Grandberry), Lil’ Fizz (Dreux Frederic), J-Boog (Jarrell Houston) and Raz-B (DeMario Thornton) — went bust. Omarion left for a solo career while the three other members vowed to continue without him.
And Omarion, 19, who has the lead role in the movie along with Marques Houston, is clearly ready to move on. He and the 22-year-old Marques spoke to The Associated Press about “You Got Served,” his future — and the future of B2K.
AP: You both are self-taught dancers. How much training went into preparing for these roles?
Houston: It was an eight-week process because we never stopped rehearsing. Every battle we were rehearsing.
AP: Did you have to work with acting coaches for this film?
Omarion: For me, it was more watching films and sitting down and talking to some of my great fans like Will Smith and Vivica. ... Just soaking it up. Me really bouncing off of him. This is something that, you know, (Houston) was on a sitcom (“Sister, Sister”) for five years. He was pretty seasoned. I would come to him and ask him, “How should I do that?”
AP: The other members of B2K said the group made no money. What’s your response?
Houston: The response is, that’s not true. The other response is, we love them. It’s all old and we wish we could just move on. Everybody’s cool with that, and we all know that was false.
AP: Why did you decide to stay with your management?
Omarion: When everything was being said about money being stolen, I pretty much just did my research and I saw that management was being a good management firm and being loyal to me. So why would you leave someone that’s being loyal to you?
AP: Will this split hurt your solo career?
Omarion: It’s so hard to talk about this because when people hear about it, they want to not see you be emotional about it. But it’s like, we’ve been dealing with it so much and it’s emotionally kind of wearing me down.
AP: Was it odd seeing yourself on screen with your former band members?
Omarion: For me, I don’t like to see myself. I kind of like to see everybody else. It’s hard because the whole time I’m watching myself, I’m critiquing myself like, I could have done better.
AP: Are the other members going to be at the premiere? If so, what will you say to them?
Houston: They are in the movie. They will be at the premiere. We’ll say, what’s up, how y’all doing?
AP: Are you all on speaking terms now?
Houston: We haven’t. We have reached out and I hope everything should be fine now.
AP: You all lived together in two houses next door to each other. What’s going on now with the living situation?
Houston: The other three members currently reside somewhere else.
AP: What’s the possibility of B2K getting back together?
Omarion: I don’t know what the future holds. You never know.
AP: Both of you are now solo artists. Will you concentrate more on singing or acting?
Omarion: This is my first time stepping up (to acting) so it’s definitely something that’s going to have all of my attention. I think it’s really important that I come off strong. I’m so nervous.