Bow Wow

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For other uses, see Bow Wow (disambiguation).
Bow Wow

Background information
Birth name Shad Gregory Moss
Born March 9, 1987 (1987-03-09) (age 21)
Origin Columbus, Ohio, United States
Genre(s) Pop rap
Occupation(s) Rapper, actor, and record producer
Years active 1993 - present
Label(s) Death Row, So So Def, Columbia, LBW
Associated acts Omarion, Jermaine Dupri, Soulja Boy, Destiny's Child, Chris Brown, Lil Wayne, Lil Ronnie, DJ Khaled, Yung Berg, T-Pain, Jagged Edge, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Swizz Beatz, Da Brat, Pimp C, Young Jinsu, Khleo Thomas
Website www.bowwow87.com
Notable instrument(s)
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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, Wanted in 2005 and The Price of Fame in 2006. In 2007, he released the collaboration album Face Off with Omarion.[1]

Contents

Early life

Bow Wow was born in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, the son of Teresa Caldwell 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.[1] Lil' Bow Wow then appeared on a skit on Snoop's debut Doggystyle, and on his music video of "Gin and Juice". In 1998, at the age of eleven, Bow Wow was introduced to record producer Jermaine Dupri, who helped shape his career.

Music

Beware of Dog

At the age of 13, he released his debut album, Beware of Dog, featuring Snoop Dogg, Jagged Edge, Jermaine Dupri, Xscape, and Da Brat. It spawned the singles, "Bounce With Me", "Bow Wow (That's My Name)" featuring Snoop Dogg, "Puppy Love" with Jagged Edge, and "Ghetto Girls". It sold nearly two and a half million copies.[1] He was also featured on the "Wild Wild West" soundtrack, performing "The Stick Up" with Jermaine Dupri.

Doggy Bag

In 2001, he released his second album, Doggy Bag. Singles from the album were "Take Ya Home" with Jagged Edge, and "Thank You". It went certified double platinum. Guest appearances include Xscape, Jagged Edge, and Da Brat.

Unleashed

In 2003, he released his third album, Unleashed. He dropped the "Lil" from his name, now calling himself simply "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. The second single was then released, "My Baby", featuring Jagged Edge. Unlike his previous albums, this one was not produced under the mentorship of Jermaine Dupri, and solidly earned gold status in spite of Dupri's absence. Guest appearances include Jagged Edge, Birdman, Mario, and Amerie.[1]

Wanted

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. Wanted's third single, "Fresh Azimiz", features J-Kwon and Jermaine Dupri. The album was certified double platinum. Guest appearances include J-Kwon, Jermaine Dupri, Omarion, Ciara, Snoop Dogg, and T. Waters.

The Price of Fame

In 2006, Bow Wow released his fifth album, The Price of Fame. Like Busta Rhymes and 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. and 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, and Khleo Thomas.

Face Off

Bow Wow and Omarion released a collaborative album on December 11, 2007, 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, and Rick Rubin.

This album was not well-received, selling a little over 500,000 albums to date[citation needed]

H.I.M.(History In Making)

Bow Wow is currently working on his seventh studio album entitled H.I.M.(History In Making). The album is slated to be released in late 2008 and feature production from Swizz Beatz, Lil Ronnie, Jermaine Dupri, Soulja Boy, and DJ Khaled. Guest appearances include Soulja Boy, Swizz Beatz, Lil Wayne, DJ Khaled, Young Jinsu, and others. Several tracks like "Pole In My Basement", "Shake It", and "Stunt When I See U" have been leaked on the internet.

Film career

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, in which he starred as a young orphan who gets a shot at playing in the NBA. Before Like Mike he made a cameo in All About The Benjamins as Kelly, and in "Carmen: A Hip Hopera." Bow Wow also 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.Actor-rapper Shad Moss, aka Bow Wow, is focusing on acting full time. Moss has joined the upcoming fifth season of HBO's "Entourage" in a recurring role, playing Charlie, a new stand-up comic client of E (Kevin Connolly).

Additionally, he has landed a role opposite Forest Whitaker, rapper Lil Wayne and Isaiah Washington in the Weinstein Co.'s sports drama "Patriots," about a high school basketball team in post-Katrina Louisiana.

"After 16 years in the music industry and six successful albums, I've decided to shift my energy to something else I'm passionate about, acting," Moss said. "I'm going to try to be the next Will Smith."

Like Moss, Smith started off as a rapper before segueing into acting.

Philanthropy

Bow Wow, along with other recording artists such as P!nk, Avril Lavigne, Eve, Kelly Rowland, ex-Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro, joined 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, sold at ALDO stores to benefit the YouthAIDS initiative.

Endorsements and projects

Bow Wow has appeared in commercials for (BET) Wrap it up, Twix, Chewits Campbells, and Verbs. He currently owns his own record label called LBW Entertainment, on which he has released "Price of Fame", and "Get It In" (on the 2006 album). Rappers Miss Nana from Newark, NJ and Khleo Thomas are currently signed to this label.

Personal life

Bow Wow dated R&B singer Ciara. Their break-up inspired his song "Outta My System".[2] This also inspired Ciara's song, "Like a Boy". Both remain good friends though.

On December 6, 2007, Bow Wow was rushed to hospital after a concert in Cincinnati, Ohio, with complaints of stomach pains. At the time, the singer lived with his mother (his manager), later moving out once he was older.[3]

Due to the longevity in his career, Moss is one of the few rappers to release more than 5 studio albums in his career (6 in total).

Bow Wow is friends with Philadelphia 76ers guard Louis Williams. Louis was seen at his house on a episode of MTV Cribs.

He has had beef with Lil Romeo and Yung Berg.

Feuds

Lil Romeo

In 2005, Bow Wow dissed Lil Romeo on "Fresh Azimiz" with the lines "I'm 18, but I make mo than yo dad, see". Lil Romeo released a song, "U Can't Shine Like Me" in response.

Yung Berg

Yung Berg released his second single "Do That There". The intro seems to be a diss to Bow Wow, but Bow Wow hasn't made a response. Berg also revealed to XXL Magazine that 50 Cent told him to diss Bow Wow and to "move him out the game". They have both squashed the rumored beef they had [4]and Bow Wow could possibly be on Yung Berg's album Look What You Made Me.

Discography

Main article: Bow Wow discography

Solo singles

Featured Singles

Filmography

Guest appearances

References

  1. ^ a b c d Birchmeier, Jason (2007). Bow Wow - Biography. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2008-02-24.
  2. ^ Reid. "Bow Wow Can't Get His Mind Off An Ex (Ciara?) In New Single", MTV News, 2007-01-31. Retrieved on 2008-02-24. 
  3. ^ "Bow Wow Hospitalized over Dressing Room Tantrum", American Top 40, 2007-12-07. Retrieved on 2007-12-08. 
  4. ^ http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/video800.php?v=wshh0a4oNn17Z04psVs8&set_size=1

External links