| B2K On Tour |
| -- by Shaheem Reid B2k on Tour At this stop in B2K's promotional tour, there was hardly an eye that wasn't gushing tears or a mouth that wasn't urgently yelling among the crowd of mostly teenage girls, because J-Boog announced that the group wanted to bring four ladies onstage so they could sing them their new single, the gushy ballad "Gots Ta Be," and everyone gots ta be down. During this stopoff in New York � one of their favorite cities � the week of their record's release, intimacy and simplicity meant everything � for the most part. Raz-B, Omarion, J-Boog and Lil' Fizz were in town to give back to their fans with free shows on what they had dubbed the Five Borough Tour. "Right now, New York's got us," Omarion said. "That and Detroit." One of the chosen few takes a seat onstage in a folding chair. "I love you so much, oh my God!" she said to Raz as he gazed down at her. Just as they had at the four shows they'd already delivered that day � one for each borough � B2K started off the performance by coming from behind the lucky girls and hugging them, They then faced their fans and serenaded them with song. The finale of the performance happened as the young women, bordering on delirium, stood up and gave the heartthrobs bear hugs. Like Raz-B says, B2K's stages keep getting bigger and bigger. They have to. Malls were shut down and traffic was stopped all along B2K's path of promotion for their self-titled debut. They had to move their tour with IMX from clubs to theaters in order to contain their fans, and a summer arena tour with Lil' Bow Wow was in the works before their debut album even hit stores. The guys are happily awash in all the attention. "Gots Ta Be" B2K (Epic) "The tour has been great," Raz-B said. "The fans have been showing us a lot of love." "It's so overwhelming dealing with all our fans," Omarion added. "It's so much love that they give us � we appreciate everything. When fans run up to us, it's never a problem. They make us happy. When they run up to us, it's so exciting for us too. It's like, 'You like us, oh my God.' " Hearts were still fluttering after the end of the Five Borough Tour. The quartet had just finished an in-store bonding session with fans to coincide with the release of B2K and found themselves unable to leave because fan-atics formed a human barricade around them. "There were 4,000 girls out there," Raz said of the incident. "The barricade ran two blocks. It was so cute. We wanted to get out and hug them, but unfortunately our security wouldn't let us get out." One admirer did break through the iron curtain of B2K's security guards at another engagement that same day. "We did a autograph signing at the [Times Square] arcade Barcode," Fizz recalled. "When it was time to leave, there were still a whole bunch of girls outside. Unfortunately we couldn't sign all their autographs because we had to do a [TV] taping. We didn't know they were out there. Our security guards were trying to rush us out and I slipped in some water and one girl grabbed me and kissed me on the lips." Situations like these are why Omarion feels it's imperative to keep his mouth clean at all times. "You gotta have your toothbrush," he said. "Your grill gotta smell fresh." Omarion's other gotta-haves for the road? "We gotta have our 2way [pagers] and cell phones," he added. "I gotta have a notepad so I can write. You gotta have a big old CD case and a CD Walkman, because you gotta enjoy your music." The Inglewood, California native, who said he had Brandy's new Full Moon disc in heavy rotation, wouldn't have to worry about his essentials later in the week, because he was right at home for a show at L.A.'s House of Blues. |