Bow Wow Biography
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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 changing his originally poppy style to a more mature one.
Born in Reynoldsburg (Cleveland), OH, the formerly lil’ 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 Brian 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.” 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, Michael Cox and Dupri, behind as well.
His first recording for Columbia, Unleashed (2003), showcased a more mature sound, one that straddled the mainstream and the streets simultaneously, but didn’t do so well commercially, which didn’t bode well at all 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.
Wanted was released in 2005. Its first single was “Let Me Hold You”, featuring Omarion, and peaked at #1 on the rap chart and #4 on the Hot 100. The next single, “Like You”, featuring Ciara, coincided with the beginning of Bow Wow’s relationship with the singer. “Fresh Azimiz”, featured J-Kwon and Jermaine Dupri, followed and peaked at #23 on the Hot 100 and #6 on the Hot Rap Tracks chart. The album was certified platinum. He also appeared on the remix of Dem Franchize Boyz’ “I Think They Like Me”, which peaked at #15 on the Hot 100 and #1 on the Hot Rap Tracks.
In 2006, The Price of Fame was released with the lead single “Shortie Like Mine”, featuring Chris Brown, peaking at #9 on the Hot 100 and #1 on the Hot Rap Tracks. “Outta My System”, which featured T-Pain, reflected on Bow Wow’s break-up with Ciara. It peaked at #22 on the Hot 100 and #2 on the Rap chart. The Price of Fame was certified gold. 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 Hot 100. The second single was “Hey Baby (Jump Off)”.
In October 2008, for the U.S. presidential election, Bow Wow led a 15-city “Walk Across America” event to register new voters. He released a mixtape title Half Man, Half Dog Vol. 1 that year. Half Man, Half Dog Vol. 2 was released as a sequel to the mixtape in February 2009. New Jack City II, his sixth album, was released in March 2009 and his first album to include a Parental Advisory: Steven Roberts of MTV News observed that this album explored the “the influence of crack cocaine in inner-city communities” and featured such guests as T.I.
Three promo singles were released in late 2008: “Marco Polo” featuring Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em, “Big Girls”, and “Roc The Mic”. The first official single, “You Can Get It All” featuring Johnta Austin, samples TLC’s “Baby-Baby-Baby” and peaked at #55 on the Hot 100 and #9 on the Hot Rap Tracks. On July 4, 2009 his new song “I Know I’m The Sh**” off his DJ Drama hosted Mixtape he makes a reference of him working on his new album Who Is Shad Moss? and it is already in production. On August 16, Bow Wow announced his signing to Cash Money Records, joining an all-star roster that already includes Drake, Lil Wayne and Birdman, among others.
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