Team B.A.D.

Band: Team B.A.D.

Members: Bria Cusaac, aka Yhung Bree, rapper; Deja Brown, aka D-Smoove, rapper; Destiny Ritter, vocals; Vanessa Ashong, vocals

Who we talked to: Destiny and Deja, both 16

The all-girl groups are pretty rare in York? Destiny: Yeah. There (are) a lot of boy groups.

When did the group get together? Destiny: We started in the summer. Aug. 1 is actually our anniversary. (Laughs) We didn't start performing until September. We all knew each other. (We grew up in) York City School District. Our manager (Shablis Glover) realized that we all had a musical talent. She knew us, and then, she just put us together. She pushes us really hard.

How often do you practice? Destiny: Every Monday and Wednesday we have meetings together to talk about events coming up and everything, and we have a lot of dance practices. When we get into the studio and have dance rehearsal, (we see each other) four times a week.

Are you heading into the studio anytime soon? Destiny: (We recorded last) weekend. It's going to be an EP (with) five songs.

How do you go about writing music? Deja: We usually listen to the instrumental (track) first, and then, we come together and decide on a topic. We do our parts and come together and see if we agree on it. We help each other out sometimes.

What musicians inspire you? Deja: Destiny likes Alicia Keys. Vanessa likes Monica. We like a lot of different artists.

Do you like any local artists? Deja: The Rossums and Young Vishis (Durvel Wilson Jr.)

Do you have any performances coming up? Deja: We're doing a fashion/talent show at (William Penn Senior High School.) The seniors are trying to fundraise for their prom. Right now, we're just focused on our recording.

You combine rapping and singing, right? Deja: It's different and a lot of people can relate to it because a lot of people like singing and rapping. We all have different styles and stuff put together into one song.

You dance, too. Have you been dancing for a while? Deja: Oh, no. (Laughs) None of us (have taken lessons). We just started really dancing. Trying to sing and dance at the same time (is really hard) especially for the singers.

Is it hard to balance school with the music and dance sessions? Deja: It's really hard. (We've) got to balance everything out with our schedule and stuff. (Our friends) are really supportive.

What are your goals for the future? Deja: We just want to get our music out and become known and hopefully, become famous. In March, we're trying to do just a Team B.A.D. concert at York College (for) their overnight program. We want to perform for some of the students there.

Have you thought about what you want to do after high school? We're all going to college, but we hope everything can work out. We're all trying to go to the same college, so we can all still be together and work on music. We haven't decided (which school). Temple and Millersville (universities are on our lists).

What do you like to do during downtime? Deja: We like playing a lot of video games like "Band Hero" and . . . "Call of Duty." We do a lot of stuff together (including) mini golf (and) sleepovers.

How did you come up with the name? Deja: We had a hard time with the name. We went through a lot of (options). My mom . . . thought of Beyond A Dream (B.A.D.)

- ERIN McCRACKEN, FLIPSIDE STAFF

Online

Connect with Team B.A.D. at myspace.com/teambad0717 or twitter.com/teambad717.

Listen to the interview at www.flipsidepa.com.

Read more meet-the-artist interviews at www.flipsidepa.com/musicdirectory.