Marques Houston
Photo: Kimo Easterwood

Kiddies, you've only got a few more months to rest your lungs before you'll be expected to start shrieking fanatically again. This is because IMX's frontman, Marques Houston, has announced he and swoon-inducing quartet B2K are hitting the road beginning in June.

"It's called the Pandemonium/ Scream Tour 3," Houston, better known to the fans as Batman, said on Wednesday. "['Scream 2'] was an excellent tour. That was one of the best tours of the last couple of years. I was just happy to be a part of it. Where do we go from there? We'll do it bigger."

So far, the only Scream veteran not scheduled to return is Bow Wow, who headlined the last two Scream tours. Instead Houston indicated that R&B youngster Mario might "possibly come on the tour as well."

While Houston's plans for his onstage venture with B2K are being finalized, contracts are being inked for an onscreen collaboration between the two factions for a film called "Dance." He likens it to a new millennium version of the '80s classic, "Breakin.' "

"I don't know what [my character's] name is, but he's a serious guy," the 21-year-old explained. "He loves dancing, and he takes it really, really seriously. My character is the opposite of Omarion — [he's] kind of like Turbo and Ozone [from Breakin']. I'm the more serious, older brother type, and he's more the guy worrying about the ladies and how he dresses."

Houston, who is Omarion's real-life older brother as well as J-Boog's cousin, recently stepped outside of his other musical family, IMX, to make his solo album MH. The first single from the April 15 release will be "That Girl."

"I mean, it was kind of exciting to be onstage for the first time by myself," Houston said of shooting the video, currently in heavy television rotation. "[But] I was kinda nervous not having my boys right on the side, [which is] something I'm not used to."

However since Houston sings lead in IMX, recording the LP wasn't too much of a leap.

"The boys were still there rooting me on and supporting me," the singer explained. "Where it was different was when I had to work with other producers. It was a lot of fun because I got to put a lot of my ideas into it and write a lot of the album.

"My personal favorite on the album is 'Alone,' " Houston, who penned seven of his album's songs, continued. "That's a situation that I went through, breaking up with a girl. It was a rough relationship for me so I wrote about it. I [also] love 'Walk Away.' I like my voice on that song. I'm singing real strong, 'Has anybody ever told you that your eyes shine like pearls?/ Has anybody ever told you that you're one special girl?' "

Houston says that even though he's putting out a solo LP, he definitely plans to record again soon with IMX. In addition to the group's singing roles, they are also part of the production collective Platinum Status, which helmed most of the beats for B2K's last two albums.

• B2K
• IMx

Bow Wow
Photo: Shaheem Reid

MEMPHIS, Tennessee — Bow Wow/ B2K fans/addicts can jump on top of fold-up chairs with acrobatic agility and balance themselves with grace. If you see them running for the barrier that separates them and the stage, you better play like Ludacris and "Move! Get out the way!": Many of them may only be 100 pounds or less, but with the boys of their dreams in their sights and that old adrenaline pumping, they'll steamroll you. All of them are somebody's "real" #1 fan, and of course they're not afraid to express it by screaming.

But hours before the teen titans' Scream 2 Tour kicked off its run at the Mid-South Coliseum Thursday night (click for photos from the show), you had to keep your cool and talk calmly, especially if you were trying to get tickets for the sold-out show.

"No really, I know Omarion, he's supposed to have tickets for me but he doesn't know my whole name," a woman, seemingly spinning a far-fetched yarn, desperately pleaded to a security guard.

"I'm just ready to get it started," the main attraction, Bow Wow, said a little later as Jermaine Dupri walked around backstage, making sure everything was right. Meanwhile Bow Weezy's co-stars, B2K, IMX and TG-4, were tucked away out of sight, and if you listened to the gossip hounds, the three acts would possibly be pulling a Nas and not showing up at all. Later in the night, though, everyone would see that it was Bow Wow who almost didn't make it.

Newcomers TG-4 were probably thinking, "Wheeeew, we made it," after they left the stage. They had to open a show that started almost an hour late, nobody knew who they were, and to top it off, they were girls!

"Who are they?" one teen asked her friend. "I'm ready to see my boyfriend Lil' Fizz."

The boo birds went to chirping as IMX's protégés entered the stage with a spastic funk track playing behind them. The new jacks obviously have been taking notes from their seasoned performing friends, because the crowd was behind them once TG-4 started their second and final song, "Virginity" ("I like it when you touch me/ I like it when you squeeze me/ But you cannot take my virginity," they sang). How did they win over their fellow females? Their swift choreography had a hand in it, but all they had to do was ask one question: "Who wants to go backstage with us?"

The show's 20-something elder statesmen IMX were up next, sending the ladies' hormones into overdrive. Lead singer Batman sang one line from "Ain't No Need," then paused and the Memphis faithful were celebrating like the Grizzlies won the NBA championship.

Batman wore a black jacket with his superhero namesake's logo on the back in all rhinestones. Romeo and LDB were equally as blingy with their initials, but what sent the girls into a full frenzy was what they wore later.

As Romeo and LDB sat at the bottom of a smaller stage on top on the main stage with their six back-up dancers, Batman came on to sing their closer, "First Time," wearing nothing but boxer shorts, slippers and a tank top.

As the song faded and the guys crooned the breakdown, "Clap your hands if you remember your first time," they brought back memories of knocking for one lady with mixed gray hair in the audience.

"I'm having more fun than I thought I would,' she said with a Kool-Aid grin, standing on the seat of her chair between her niece and daughter.

As B2K's set got erected, it was deja vu all over again. Just like they were doing two hours previously, girls were chanting for J-Boog, Omarion, Raz-B and Lil' Fizz, and a simultaneous echo of "Bow Wow, Bow Wow" went out, setting off a friendly shouting match.

The Boys of the New Millennium looked like the new New Edition as they slowly rose from the floor. The same audio gremlins that plagued Papa Roach last week in Buffalo during the Anger Management Tour kickoff (see "Eminem King Of The Carnival At Anger Management Tour Launch") racked up some frequent flyer miles, jaunting to Memphis. They were in the house for B2K's opener, their theme song "B2K Is Hot." Each member, clad in red and white and walking down their own set of stairs, looked a little bewildered at times as the mics would go from one extreme to the next, starting off inaudibly low then jumping to ear-blistering high distortion.

But the group could've performed their set in sign language and it probably wouldn't have mattered as long as they kept poppin' and lockin' and showing off their abs of steel. The soundman got himself back on point by the time the next number started. J-Boog going topless for the number was a huge crowd pleaser (Raz-B would later drop his pants).

After a freestyle dance session to Michael Jackson's "You Rock My World" and a quick wardrobe change, it was time for another highlight, "Gots Ta Be."

"I'm not the kind to talk to strangers," the crowd immediately started singing along, almost drowning out Omarion, who was standing at the forefront of the main stage. Fizz, Boog, and Raz-B stood on the top of the smaller stage and took it old school, singing at mic stands. His fellow group members would eventually leave Omarion to do some improv toward the end of the cut.

"Is it you?" he repeatedly asked of who would win his heart, pointing into the crowd before dropping to his knees.

"You can't get mad at nobody but me," he continued with his 10,000-plus backup singers.

Nobody was mad, just "Bad," for B2K's closer, "Uh Huh." Staying in sync with each other, the group created a spectacle sliding across the stage, doing whirlwind spins and, of course, pumping their crotches. Michael Jackson's voice asking "Who's bad?" blurted out the speakers as all four heartthrobs were lowered back into the floor.

Pulling his tucked in T-shirt from out of his jeans was the closest he came to exposing himself, he doesn't sing, and we've seen him do those same variations of the Harlem shake and Crip-walk for years now. Nonetheless, Bow Wow was the showstopper.

A mini movie of the trials and tribulations Bow Wow had to go through to get to the show preceded his grand entrance of being lowered from the ceiling by a harness for "We Want Weezy."

"Bounce With Me" had the crowd doing just that as the 15-year-old spit his rapid-fire raps. For good measure and extra buoyancy, he continued rocking with the track to Jay-Z's "Big Pimpin' " playing. A short dance interlude gave the teen titan enough time to change clothes from his blue-and-rust jumpsuit to a jeans suit.

"Everybody put your posters or your CDs in the air," newcomer rapper Roc told everyone as Bow was hoisted into the air with a fire department crane for "Thank You."

He stayed on the ground for "Basketball," and had enough people onstage with him to make two teams. Dupri came out for his guest vocals and three dancers dressed as referees were onstage as well, while Bow, now wearing a Grizzlies jersey, twirled a basketball around on one finger and rapped next to a b-ball hoop.

Bow didn't need any guys with him for "Puppy Love," just two ecstatic girls he brought out the audience. Free and A.J., hosts of BET's "106 and Park," provided a video interlude as the set changed to its "Thunderdome" motif. DJ Shakim was rolled out on a structure that mirrored a giant erector set. It later revolved to reveal 11-year-old DJ Just. The two spun records to get the crowd more hype, but it was all to stall for time — nobody could find Bow Wow.

"Where's Bow?" the two turntablists and Roc asked the crowd before the theme to "Superman" played as Weezy hung high above the crowd hooked to another harness. This time he was at the back of the venue and a line was pulling him to the stage. Since most of the crowd was too young to catch Christopher Reeve's initial run as the Man of Steel in the late 1970s, the beat appropriately changed to Styles' "Good Times." "I get high, high, high," blurted out the speakers as the spotlight followed a flipping-in-mid-air Bow Wow to his place of business.

"I'm tired, I'm done," he said after performing "Bow Wow (That's My Name)." Defying gravity and running down a conveyor belt that was onstage had worn him out. So he left — again.

"We gonna keep rocking and I'm sure he's gonna come back," Roc comforted the spectators.

Nobody really expected him to bounce without performing his closer.

"Bow, we gotta take somebody home with us," Roc told his younger labelmate, who came back, wearing a tank top and shorts covered in paw prints.

As the girls sang the chorus of "Take Ya Home" ("Lil' Bow Wow/ You just don't know…") Bow performed his most mind-boggling feat of the night: He performed the Harlem shake without his iced-out Mickey Mouse pendant bouncing up to smack him in the kisser.

For full-length features on B2K and Bow Wow, check out "B2K: They Just Wanna Luv U" and "Lil' Bow Wow: Tear The Woof Off."

For more sights and stories from concerts around the country, check out MTV News Tour Reports.

- Shaheem Reid

You can win a trip to Miami to check out the Scream tour for yourself -- and meet B2K and Bow Wow -- in our Scream tour sweepstakes.

• Bow Wow
• B2K
• IMx

Foxy Brown is hoping to complete a collaboration with Nelly Furtado before she turns in her upcoming album, Il Na Na 2: The Fever. P. Diddy is executive producing the project, which features production work from the Track Masters, Dave Kelly and her younger brother, Gavin. ... Nelly, Triple Image, 3rd Faze and 3rd Storee have signed on to perform at 'NSYNC's Challenge for the Children IV celebrity basketball game scheduled for July 28 in Orlando, Florida. Other stars expected to attend the charity event include Usher, Brian McKnight and Taye Diggs, among others. ...

IMX's Batman is working on a solo album for Interscope. "It doesn't sound like IMX at all; it's got my own flavor in it," he said. ... Meanwhile, IMX are joining B2K beginning Tuesday (July 2) for a few weeks of warm-up dates for the Scream 2 Tour, which kicks off July 25 in Memphis. Fans should expect quite a production on the outing, which will also feature Bow Wow, as B2K said they plan to use a lot of props and pyrotechnics. ...

Mr. Cheeks is launching his own clothing line called GLS, short for Ghetto Lifestyle. "We gonna put some things out we like to see that we feel comfortable in, like suits," Cheeks said. ... Pearl Jam's new album is slated for a November release, and they're still working on the record's title, artwork and track list. The band also plans to release an album of B-sides and rarities sometime next year. ... Doggy's Angels are recording the follow-up to their 2000 debut, Pleezbalevit, for release early next year. Snoop Dogg will again be on board as executive producer. ...

Chris Rock's wife, Malaak Compton-Rock, gave birth to their first child, a girl, in New York on Friday, according to the Associated Press. The couple named her Lola Simone. ... A Vespa ET2 scooter autographed by the Who's Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey and John Entwistle is being auctioned off at www.virginmega.com with proceeds benefiting the Teenage Cancer Trust in memory of Entwistle, who died on Thursday. The three bandmates had originally signed the scooter to help promote the Virgin Megastore 2002 Best of British campaign, a month-long commitment to supporting U.K. artists and their work. ...

07.01.02

Janet Jackson guests on "Feel It," the first single from Beenie Man's Tropical Storm, which is due August 27 and features appearances from Lil' Kim and dancehall artists Sean Paul and Lady Saw, along with production work by the Neptunes, Irv Gotti, DJ Clue and Sly & Robbie. Janet and Beenie filmed a video for the song at a beach in Los Angeles last week with director Dave Meyers (Britney Spears, Pink). ... P. Diddy is remixing "Call Me," the second single from Tweet's debut, Southern Hummingbird, the singer said at last week's BET Awards. For her third single, she is eyeing "Smoking Cigarettes" and hopes to align with an anti-smoking campaign to feature the song in a commercial, the way she teamed with Verizon with "Call Me." ...

Silverchair have pushed back the release of their fourth studio album, Diorama, from July 30 to August 27 due to frontman Daniel Johns' severe case of reactive arthritis. The Australian trio were forced to cancel several promotional appearances because of his illness, including sold-out shows in New York and London. ... Pop vocalist Rosemary Clooney, the voice behind classics such as "Come On-a My House" and "Mambo Italiano," died on Saturday of complications from lung cancer, according to CNN. The 74-year-old singer/actress was surrounded by her family, including her five children, grandchildren, and her husband, at her Beverly Hills home. ...

Soulfly guitarist Mike Doling, who organized the tribute album Strait Up for Snot singer Lynn Strait, has produced a live album by his former band titled Snot Alive!, due July 30. The eight-song LP, recorded at the Palace in Hollywood in May 1998, six months before Strait was killed in a car accident, includes favorites "Snot" and "Stoopid." ... Steve Earle will play a drug counselor in three episodes of the new HBO series, "The Wire." According to a spokesperson for the artist, the singer, whose new album, Jerusalem, is slated for a fall release, will first appear in the July 21 episode. ... Mike Doughty is composing the soundtrack and score to the upcoming movie, "Evenhand," a cop story directed by Joseph Pierson ("Cherry"). The former Soul Coughing singer is also releasing a poetry book, "Slanky," on July 8.

• Nelly Furtado
• Foxy Brown
• IMx
• *NSYNC
• B2K

B2K
Photo: Sony

When it comes to reciprocating adoration, B2K are equal-opportunity practitioners.

In their video for "Gots Ta Be," they prove to be boys of the people by bonding with their fans. And in their next clip, "Why I Love You," they take it one step further, shedding any signs of superstardom and spending time with the people who helped them make it to the top: friends and family.

J-Boog, Omarion, Lil' Fizz and Raz-B just completed filming "Why I Love You" in the group's main stomping ground of Los Angeles, according to a spokesperson for the boys' label, Epic. Erik White, who also helmed B2K's "Uh Huh," directed the video.

In addition to showing what the guys do in their time outside the spotlight — like playing basketball and going to the movies and the mall — the group spends time with some of its real-life inner circle. IMX (Batman is Omarion's brother and Romeo is Fizz's big bro) and newcomer Jhene (Lil' Fizz's cousin) also make cameos (see "Between Toilet Pranks, IMX Produce Music For Solange, Whitney, Mya").

"Why I Love You" is scheduled to hit the air sometime in July.

For a full-length feature on B2K, check out "B2K: They Just Wanna Luv U."

• B2K
• IMx

IMX's Batman
Photo: New Line

The guys in IMX promise that their Scream 2 Tour this summer with B2K and headliner Bow Wow is going to offer just as much excitement as one of those Hollywood blockbusters that drop around this time of year. However, the trio also revealed last month that some of the most action-packed and suspense-filled moments are going to take place behind the scenes at the concerts: A lot of the guys are practical jokesters and it's going to come down to who gets who first.

"They never got me," IMX's Romeo bragged. "[B2K's] Lil' Fizz is my brother, we'll think of a prank together or he'll do a prank and come back and tell me. We got this new one we're gonna get Omarion with. He's gonna be mad."

The gut-buster he's talking about is literally going to catch the B2K member with his pants down.

"The one we about to give to Omari, you know how in the morning everybody has to use the bathroom?" he began to explain. "We're gonna Saran Wrap the toilet, so when he goes to pee, it's gonna go everywhere. We're gonna take the light bulb out so he can't see; it's just gonna go everywhere."

Romeo, along with LDB and the group's lead singer Batman, need to horse around a little every now and then. They live in the studio, writing songs and pounding out tracks under their production moniker, Platinum Status. Besides helming most of the tracks on B2K's LP as well as their own self-titled album, the guys have been working on material for Mya, Whitney Houston, Deborah Cox, "a female version of B2K" named G4, and Fizz's 13-year-old cousin Jhene (pronounced Ja-nay), who'll open up Scream 2.

"That's like our little sister," LDB said of the youngster. "She has a strong voice to be so small and she's real fast. We can get four songs done in like a day. She's like a mix between Beyoncé and Kameelah [formerly] of 702. She's real nice. Her first single is called 'Dog.' "

Another diva-in-training with whom they share a sibling-like relationship is Solange Knowles. They produced two songs on her upcoming debut (see "Solange, Beyonce's Lil' Sis, Says She's No Destiny's Child").

"Destiny's Child, as soon as they got in the business, we became good friends and she was always around them," Romeo remembered. "She'd be running around, we'd be picking on her. When she finally got in the studio, it was nothing. It was like a family. Everybody was there. It's real good to work with people who are real down-to-earth."

"One of the songs is called 'Dance with You,' " Batman, who's also working on his solo project, said. "It's a duet with her and B2K. It's a party record. It's real upbeat. Her voice makes her music, she has a powerful voice. And she's an excellent writer."

As hyped as they were to hit the studio with their homegirls, nothing is going to compare to collaborating with Houston.

"We were honored [to get the call]," Batman gushed. "She's a legend, she's an icon. It's like a blessing for us to work with her. We definitely wanted to give her some different stuff. I like the stuff Rodney [Jerkins] did with her on the last album, but we definitely would like to give her a bit of our style but take it to where Whitney hasn't gone before. All bangin' over your head. Our style, we can do ballads, club hits, anything that music wants us to do."

And after the tour wraps up, IMX will be following the directions of a director, not the beat. They have a movie in development with New Line Cinema for a flick that will co-star B2K. Haters get ready.

"When you're famous in this business and everybody knows who you are and your face is all over the tube there tends to be a lot of haters," Batman said of his group's current single, "Ain't No Need." "Everybody is trying to bring you down, and we're saying 'There ain't no need to hate on us. We're doing our thing, go out there and get yours. There's money to make for everybody. Get out there do something with your own life.' "

The Scream 2 Tour kicks off July 25 at Memphis' Mid-South Coliseum (see "Bow Wow Sniffs Out A Trail For Tour With B2K")

For a full-length feature on B2K, check out "B2K: They Just Wanna Luv U."

• IMx
• Solange
• Whitney Houston
• Mya