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Shad Gregory Moss (born March 9, 1987), better known by his stage name Bow Wow (formerly Lil' Bow Wow), is an American rapper, actor, and music producer. He released his debut album Beware of Dog at age 13, then under the stage name Lil' Bow Wow, which he carried until his 2003 album Unleashed, under simply Bow Wow. Two more albums followed, Unleashed in 2005 and The Price of Fame in 2006. In 2007, he released the collaboration album Face Off with Omarion. Every now and then a kid rapper breaks through and enjoys some short-term novelty success before getting swept away by the next big thing, and during the early 2000s, Lil Bow Wow was one of those kid rappers, though he did his best not to get swept away, changing his name to Bow Wow and swapping his originally poppy style for a more mature one. Born in Reynoldsburg (Columbus), OH, Bow Wow began rapping at a very young age and had developed his style quite impressively by the time he hooked up with Jermaine Dupri of So So Def, a successful Atlanta-based record label. Dupri had experienced much success throughout the '90s with kid rappers such as Kris Kross and Da Brat, and he saw similar potential in Bow Wow, enough to bring him aboard the So So Def hit parade. Along with his right-hand man Bryan-Michael Cox, Dupri wrote and produced the bulk of the preteen's debut album, Beware of Dog (2000). The album spawned a runaway breakthrough single (and summer anthem), "Bounce with Me," along with a couple heavily rotated follow-up singles, "Bow Wow (That's My Name)" (featuring Snoop Dogg) and "Ghetto Girls." Bow Wow was born in Reynoldsburg, Ohio to Teresa and Alfonso Moss. His mother worked three jobs to care for him after Alfonso left the family. Teresa later married Rodney Caldwell, and Bow Wow has two half-sisters, Erica and Jasarah. Bow Wow was raised, and attended school, in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, a small city in the Columbus metropolitan area, until his rap career took off. At age five, he started his career in rap using the moniker "Kid Gangsta". One year later, in 1993, he performed at a Chronic tour in Columbus, and was noted by rapper Snoop Dogg and rapper Dr. Dre, who subsequently gave him a stage name, "Lil' Bow Wow". Dr. Dre later hired him as an opening act, officially gaining him a spot on the Death Row Records roster. "Lil' Bow Wow" then appeared on a skit on Snoop's debut Doggystyle. In 1998 at the age of eleven, Bow Wow was introduced to record producer Jermaine Dupri, who helped shape his career. At the age of 13, he released his debut album, Beware of Dog. It features Snoop Dogg, Jagged Edge, Jermaine Dupri, Xscape, Da Brat, & many more. It spawned the singles, "Bounce With Me", "Bow Wow (That's My Name)" featuring Snoop Dogg, "Puppy Love" with Jagged Edge, & Ghetto Girls". It sold nearly two and a half million copies. In 2001, he released his second album, Doggy Bag. It spawned the singles, "Take Ya Home" with Jagged Edge, and "Thank You". It went certified double platinum. Guest appearances include Xscape, Jagged Edge, Da Brat, and more. All this success put Bow Wow's career into overdrive: he went back into the studio with Dupri and recorded a consciously poppy follow-up, Doggy Bag (2002), that was intended to consolidate the youngster's success, and he also went to Hollywood to star in Like Mike (2002), a kid-movie vehicle about basketball that turned out pretty well. Along the way, Bow Wow enjoyed another really big hit, "Take Ya Home" (produced by the Neptunes, right around the time that duo was unstoppable, churning out one hot hit after another), and changed his name from Lil Bow Wow to just Bow Wow. Among other changes that took place around this time, Bow Wow left So So Def and signed with Columbia, leaving his musical parents, Cox and Dupri, behind as well. In 2003, he released his third album, Unleashed. He wanted to drop the "Lil" out of his name and called himself, "Bow Wow". The first single off the album was "Let's Get Down", featuring Birdman, the founder of Cash Money Records. This single became a success. Then he released his second single, "My Baby", featuring Jagged Edge. Unlike his previous albums, he doesn't feature the mentorship of Jermaine Dupri. This album only went gold. Guest appearances include Jagged Edge, Birdman, Mario, & Amerie. In 2005, Bow Wow released his fourth album, Wanted. The first single was "Let Me Hold You", featuring Omarion. This song became a hit. Then Bow Wow released his second single, "Like You", featuring Ciara. After the single release, Bow Wow and Ciara began dating, but after a few months, they broke up. Then he released his third single, "Fresh Azimiz", which features J-Kwon & Jermaine Dupri. The album was certified double platinum. Guest appearances include J-Kwon, Jermaine Dupri, Omarion, Ciara, Snoop Dogg, & T. Waters. His first recording for Columbia, Unleashed (2003), showcased a more mature sound, one that straddled the mainstream and the streets simultaneously. The album didn't do so well commercially, however, and this didn't bode well for the pint-size rapper, especially considering the all-too-common fate that often befalls here-today, gone-tomorrow kid rappers. Appearances in the films Johnson Family Vacation (2004) and Roll Bounce (2005) kept Bow Wow out of the studio for a couple years. When he returned, he reunited with Dupri and released the Top Ten hit Wanted in July 2005. The album included a pair of Top Five singles, "Let Me Hold You" and "Like You," that helped re-establish Bow Wow as a rap star. A year later he released Price of Fame and appeared in the film The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. For a while, he was romantically linked with Ciara, another young urban music star. In 2006, Bow Wow released his fifth album, The Price of Fame. Like Busta Rhymes & Ludacris, Bow Wow shaved off his cornrows for a new look. His first single was "Shortie Like Mine", featuring Chris Brown. This became a hit. Then there was a conflict between choosing a second single. He wanted "I'm a Flirt" to be the single, but at the last minute changed it to "Outta My System", featuring T-Pain, which became a success. R. Kelly then used the song and created a remix which features T.I. & T-Pain and made this his debut single for his album Double Up. This reached #12 on the billboard chart and Bow Wow shared credit. This went platinum only. Guest appearances include Chris Brown, T-Pain, Lil Scrappy, Lil Wayne, Short Dawg, Pimp C, Da Brat, R. Kelly, & Khleo Thomas. Bow Wow and Omarion released a collaborative album on December 11, 2007, entitled Face Off. The first single was "Girlfriend," which peaked at #33 on the Billboard Top 100. The second single is "Hey Baby (Jump Off)." Guest producers include T-Pain, Nitti, The Neptunes, Scott Storch, Timbaland, & Rick Rubin. Bow Wow has had guest appearances on Brandy's TV sitcom, Moesha as well as The Steve Harvey Show. He made his major acting debut in the film Like Mike which was released on July 3, 2002, where he starred as a young orphan who gets a shot at the NBA. Before Like Mike he made a cameo in All About The Benjamins as Kelly and in "Carmen: A Hip Hopera." He co-starred with Cedric the Entertainer, Vanessa L. Williams, and Solange Knowles in Johnson Family Vacation. Since the success of Like Mike, Bow Wow has starred in several Hollywood films, including Roll Bounce and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, released on June 16, 2006. Bow Wow was a guest star on the television show Smallville in November 2006 in the episode entitled "Fallout." In January 2008, Bow Wow appeared on Ugly Betty as himself. Bow Wow along with other recording artists such as P!nk , Avril Lavigne, Eve, Kelly Rowland, ex-Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro join actresses Brittany Murphy, Charlize Theron, Rosario Dawson and Eva Mendes in ads for "empowerment tag" for the ALDO Fights AIDS campaign. The tags, worn as necklaces or bracelets, go on sale at ALDO stores March 1st and benefit the YouthAIDS initiative. |
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