Lil' Bow Wow: rap music's little big man

Jet, Feb 11, 2002 by Margena A. Christian

Make no bones about it, 14-year-old hip-hop star Lil' Bow Wow can hang with the big dogs of rap music.

His fast-paced vocal skills helped his debut album, Beware of Dog, go triple-platinum. He's headlined his own tour, which often sold out within hours of tickets going on sale, forcing venues to add more dates, which also sold out within hours! He opened the Grammy Awards last year with Madonna. And now he's about to star in his own movie Like Mike.

In his first starring film role, Bow Wow portrays Calvin Cambridge, an orphan who sets his sights on being adopted and playing in the NBA like his idol, sports icon Michael Jordan. Slated for release this summer, the family comedy will also feature Morris Chestnut and Jonathan Lipnicki.

Happy to play a character who wants to emulate NBA great Jordan, Bow Wow says it wasn't hard to get into the role, because when his rap career ends, he plans to play for the NBA anyway.

"I'm only 5 feet tall, but I'm definitely going to the NBA," explains Bow Wow, who is to be an integral part of the NBA All-Star Weekend. "If that doesn't work, my ultimate dream is to be a sports agent like Jerry Maguire. When I saw that movie, I said I might want to do that if this basketball thing doesn't work out. Then I'll be able to go to all of the games for free."

Bow Wow has been the hottest thing in rap music since his debut album dropped last year. Song like Bounce With Me, Bow Wow (That's My Name)--which featured rapper-actor Snoop Dogg who christened Bow Wow with his moniker-Puppy Love and Ghetto Girls helped to catapult the album that sold 3 million copies.

His second album Doggy Bag, has already ready gone platinum. The first single, Thank You is a ballad-like rap that is an ode to everyone who supported him out the gate. "I felt like I wanted to tell everyone how much I appreciated the love they gave me on the first album by helping it go triple-platinum. I was real happy and wanted everyone to know."

A confident teen who believes in "being himself and not following anyone else," Bow Wow says he wasn't worried whether fans would be feeling the slow-tempo Thank You.

"I knew we were going to follow-up strong," he says, referring to Take Ya Home, the album's second single. "That's why we got that Neptunes track next."

Last year's megasuccessful Scream tour had fans screaming, crying, fainting and begging for more. He assures them that he plans to hit the road again once the movie is completed.

"I'm coming back in the summer to give the kids time to prepare. When you do a concert, you don't want to have to worry about going to school the next day. That's why I really want to do it in the summer."

Fitting another tour into his already busy schedule hasn't been a problem for Bow Wow, because of late there hasn't been much that he hasn't had his paws on in some way.

This summer he's also getting set to launch a clothing line, Lil' Bow Wear. He says that his mother, manager-stylist Teresa Caldwell, who once worked in fashion retail, came up with the idea.

The ninth-grader has always enjoyed the attention he's gotten from his female fans, but earning the respect of male fans has been an extra plus.

"I've noticed more dudes have been coming up to me, which I really like, because my first time out, they were like, `Bow Wow, whoop-tido.' Now they are starting to give me my respect. I know if it was the other way around, I would give them their respect. You're not going to get anywhere hatin'. You won't get anywhere, trust me."

Born Shad Gregory Moss, next month he looks forward to turning 15. And already he has begun to observe that age is bringing about a noticeable difference in his likes and dislikes. For starters, he's all but admitted that he has abandoned his love of wrestling.

"I was getting too old for that stuff. I was obsessed with wrestling until last year. I wanted to be a wrestler at one point. I was a big fan of the WWF. I used to collect these little action figures. I had over 80 of them in a U Haul box and a little wrestling ring to go with them, but I put them in the closet. My mom always said I would outgrow wrestling, but I told her that I never would. Now I can't even look at it. I haven't seen it in 10 months."

Bow Wow loves all of the adoration that's showered upon him. He finds it pretty amazing that his fans "know everything" about him. Well, except for this one thing, he says.

"I take boxing a lot. When I was little I did karate and boxing classes, my first cousin Biggz (Brandon) with me. I love him to death. We took classes when we were little. I had been doing that and then stopped to do the rapping thing."

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, the pint-sized rapper with the big brown eyes doesn't have anyone special he'll be sending candy hearts. "My mind is so focused on getting finished with this movie and getting over this allergy/cold," he says. "I haven't really thought about it."

That special someone may not be in his life now, but he says that the song Ghetto Girls just about sums up the type of girl who could steal his heart.