Follow MTV News correspondent Iann Robinson as he receives his Assignment, spends the day with B2K and turns the experience into a TV segment. (Click here for airtimes.) Below, Iann gives us a preview.

Once the Assignment comes down, I have to do it, even if it involves a

band that's not normally on my playlist. So when I was handed the

Assignment of hanging out with hip-hop/R&B boy band B2K, I wasn't exactly

busting out my autograph book. But even though it's not my style of music,

it was my Assignment, so I stepped up. ([article id="1456240"]Click for photos[/article] from Iann's B2K Assignment.)

When I started my research, I had decided the story would be about The B2K

Phenomenon, but I also wanted to know who these guys really were. Sure, I

had stacks and stacks of publicity crap, but that amounted to very little.

It was a lot of "B2K: hottest band ever!" and pictures of them shirtless

and sexy. I couldn't even figure out their real names — instead I got

these nicknames that made no sense. Omarion? Raz-B? J-Boog? Lil' Fizz?

What was I gonna do with that? I knew I wasn't going to let the Assignment

become a publicity kiss-ass session. I wanted to find out why these guys

were so big, but also who they were as people. I wasn't happy with the

info I had so far, and delving deeper into B2K's lives didn't seem likely

without meeting them.

Our first meeting was outside an airport in Las Vegas, and it started off

funny. They all had on these loud and colorful outfits, and there I was in

my shorts and black T-shirt, trying to figure out how I was going to

relate. (Sing along: "One of these kids is not like the others ...")

Now, here's where it gets weird. From the first few minutes through the

rest of the trip, we just clicked. That doesn't mean I'm about to start

bustin' out the fly dance moves, so my heavy metal kids don't sweat it.

But B2K were really great, smart guys. And they were nice to me not

because I was the MTV guy, but actually interested in learning about mosh

pits, heavy metal and the new videogames we were all into. Right before my

eyes, they turned into individuals.

Omarion — or Mario, as I called him — talked to me about being

on "team Rollerblade" and his desire to become an actor like Denzel

Washington. That was what he wanted to be before B2K emerged as his main

goal. Fizz, on the other hand, was looking toward a pro basketball career

pre-B2K. I found that a little strange, because he's not a big guy, but

his sister pointed out that he's both the tallest and the youngest member of the group. And apparently, he's that good.

And surprise, surprise, Raz-B was really into marine biology before B2K

made him a star. Even J-Boog, who was the most distant and — as much

as I hate to say this — mysterious, came around. We talked about girls and tattoos. Inspired by Samoan heritage, Boog is the first and only member of the group with a tattoo. And althought we had ink in common he couldn't figure out how I could only listen to metal all the time!

By that afternoon, I had met their families, explained to J-Boog the

difference between dying from metal and dying for metal and promised Fizz that I'd take him to the biggest arcade in New York when they came to

town. Hey, I even let these guys talk me into rock climbing, which I didn't want to do, but I didn't want to let them down either. Safe to say it was embarrassing, but worth it. Well, you'll see what I mean when you see the show.

The only time that they ceased to be four individuals was when they hit

the show grounds. Once they got into the public eye, their B2K-ness came

out. The hardest thing to see was how these four guys, the same guys I'd

talked toys, videogames and music with all day, suddenly became "SEXY."

When they hit the stage, B2K became a machine, unified in their desire to

drive the crowd crazy and move one step closer to being superstars.

Does that mean I'm a convert to smooth R&B-boy-band-pop? Not really. But

I have learned not to prejudge people by their fancy dance moves. As a

result, I also have four new buddies, and that always rocks.

— [article id="1453177"]Iann Robinson[/article]