BOW WOW: THE RAPPER, THE ACTOR, THE STAR
Tasting super stardom at the tender age of thirteen, Shad Gregory Moss, better known as Bow Wow, has created a special name for himself in the ever competitive rap industry. Born on March 9th, 1987, Bow Wow became interested in rap as early as age three. By the time he was six, he had already begun performing under the name “Kid Gangsta”, He was given his stage name “Bow Wow” by the rap superstar Snoop dogg, when he noticed the young talent performing at a concert in Los Angeles in 1993.
This little talent powerhouse was discovered by Jermaine Dupri. In 1998, when he was only eleven years old, Bow Wow met the record producer, who helped shape his career. Under the guidance of Dupri — who had previously guided other kid rappers, namely Kris Kross and Da Brat, to mainstream success — and songwriter/producer Bryan-Michael Cox, the young rapper was primed for success. In the year 2000, he launched his career with his debut album named “Beware of Dog” under the stage name Lil’ Bow Wow. It featured superhit Bow Wow songs like “Bounce with Me” (in collaboration with the girl group Xscape), “Bow Wow (That’s My Name)” featuring Snoop Dogg, “Puppy Love”, and “Ghetto Girls”. The album went double platinum, establishing his place in the hip hop industry and creating a strong fan following for him. It has sold over 3 million copies since its release. The soundtrack to the film Wild Wild West featured his song “The Stick Up” with his mentor Jermaine Dupri.
However, in later years, he struggled to rival his debut success. He still persevered impressively and released a series of albums that met varying degrees of commercial success. In 2002, his second album “Doggy Bag” was released with singles “Take Ya Home” and “Thank You” with Jagged Edge. The album went platinum peaking at #11 on the Billboard 200 and #2 on the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart. Around this time he finally decided to drop the ‘lil’ from his name, officially changing it to “Bow Wow”. Bow Wow pictures appeared all over the media and the internet with his changed name and image. He himself told MTV News: “I changed my name because I’m getting older now and it’s too many Lil’s.”
In addition to his music career, Bow Wow also found regular work in Hollywood, beginning with Like Mike (2002), a star vehicle for which he recorded a soundtrack. His most prominent film appearances include Johnson Family Vacation (2004), Roll Bounce (2005), and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006). His later albums were also successful, though not as much as his first. Various Bow Wow music videos have made the charts including the highly acclaimed Bow Wow music video for the song “let me hold you” which won a MTV Video Music Awards Japan nomination in 2006. The hits continued for Bow Wow in the later years with his stardom refusing to go down. He is one true superstar.
About the Author:
James Griffith is a freelance writer from London specialising in writing hiphop r&b music and uk grime music articles. Over the years he has developed an extensive knowledge of urban music and urban music artists and is considered one of the leading authorities on this subject. With a passion for Hip hop and R&B music since childhood, James Griffith brings great knowledge and a great understanding of this exciting music genre and his articles are both informative and entertaining too.
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