The Bomb Imajin Interview
(By Cynthia Horner)
 

Right On: How do you like traveling to different cities all the time?
Imajin: It's alot of fun.

RO: Does it seem like you're working or having fun?
Imajin: Once we get out there and the audience hears the music, they get hyped and we get hyped.  Then we forget we're working.  The part that I have the least fun is the actual traveling.  We have to wake up early in the morning.  Sometimes we get real tired and we want to go back to sleep.

RO: After the first video came out, did people recognize you right away?
Imajin: Yeah.  One time we went to the mall to buy some sneakers and girls were following us.  They just wanted to take pictures and get our autographs.
John: I had a straw in my mouth and the girl said, "Can I have your straw please?"
Then she wanted to sip my drink

RO: Sometimes fans want celebrities to autograph their bodies.  Has anybody tried to tear off your clothes?
Imajin: Oh yes! We got mobbed before.  We jumped into a car and the people were banging on the windows.

RO: Do you have any tour plans coming up?
Imajin: Not that we know of.  We did five dates with Mary J. Blige, Usher and Next.

RO: What cities did you perform at?
Imajin: Chicago, Minneapolis, Camden (New Jersey). We were also in Northern Ohio.

RO: How did you like it?
Imajin: It was cool. We had a lot of fun.  We also got to meet all of the people on the show.  Everybody was real down to earth.

RO: Since you got to meet some celebrities that you like, who else would you like to meet?
Imajin: Janet and Michael Jackson.  We want to meet everybody.  We would also like to meet Dru Hill again.  We met them when we were doing our album and later on at one of their parties.

RO: So I guess you guys are big Jackson fans.  In the video, you reminded me of the Jacksons because you danced like them.
Imajin: We do our best. We watch other people on videotapes and we try to dance like them.

RO: How long have you guys been a group?
Imajin: For several years.

RO: Was it always the same people?
Jamal: Actually it was just three of us.  It was me, Talib and Olamidé. John came along about a year later.
John: First Jamal was supposed to be a solo artist, but they wanted to form a group around him.  So they brought in Talib, he was the drummer.  Then they wanted to a lead singer so they got Olamidé.  I came along last.

RO: Tell me about you guys playing instruments.  It's rare in a group that everyone plays an instrument.
Imajin: Some of us learned by playing by ear, some of us were taught by our parents.

RO: Other people aren't doing this anymore.  Thy have cut so many music programs that people aren't able to learn how to play.
Imajin: Well that's what separates us from other groups.  There aren't too many groups that play instruments that have dancing moves.  It's not giving the audience the same show.  Our producer, Bert Price, he had a vision.  What he did was, he went around the country looking for kids who can sing and play instruments.  He wanted a band and that's what we came to be.

RO: But that's good because that will encourage more kids to learn how to play a musical instrument.  It seems like now, every time people want to go into the music business, they want to become a rapper. If you don't have much talent you won't be around that long.  People don't seem to realize that.
Imajin: LL Cool J is the only one who has stayed in rap a long time.  He came out when the Fat Boys came out.  That was a long, long time ago.

RO: Have you got to meet the other artists on Jive Records?
Imajin: Yeah, we have, like Baby DC and Keith Murray.

Source: Right On Magazine