The Brag

Bow Wow
Not So Lil’ Anymore
By Matt Shea

It’s hard for Bow Wow to call any place home right now; the writing and recording, touring, acting and charity work seem to have him constantly hopscotching around the United States. Little wonder, then, that when the rapper slips onto the phone, he sounds exhausted. “I’m in New York right now. I just got in from Amsterdam yesterday,” he explains, with the air of a man still deep in the decompression zone. “I will be in New York for, like, the next month. I’m actually filming my brand new movie here, so I’ll be here for a little while.”

The acting bug has bitten hard for Bow Wow. He may have just completed a successful month-long tour of Europe, but his name is increasingly being found atop a different type of marquee. “I love working in film. I love ‘em both, but acting is definitely… let’s just say I could see myself doing more acting in the future than music. It’s peaceful, less stressful, I’m at ease when I’m doing it, and I just have a passion for it. I love it. It’s challenging and I love challenges, and I just respect the craft a lot.”

It’s all a long way from how it started for Shad Gregory Moss. Born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1987, Moss latched onto rap music when he was just three years old; by age six was already performing recreationally under the moniker ‘Kid Gangsta’. In 1993, he appeared at a concert in Los Angeles and was noticed by Snoop Dogg, who christened him ‘Lil’ Bow Wow’. A few months later Lil’ Bow Wow earned his stripes by appearing on Snoop’s seminal record, Doggystyle. It’s an experience that he can now only vaguely remember. “Just being in the booth, and Snoop and them telling me to ‘Say it like this! Say it like that!’” he laughs.

Bow Wow’s a little ambivalent when he looks back on that early start, unsure of whether it prematurely jaundiced his own career outlook, or if it was simply a case of getting a head start in the rap game. “I mean, yeah, sometimes I feel like I’ve been there and done that, because I’ve done it multiple times, you know? And once you win four or five championships you get used to being a champion, and it’s all great. That’s how I’ve been pretty much my whole career,” he says. “But when I look back over it, I feel blessed, and feel like I’ve accomplished more than a lot of artists have accomplished in a lifetime. On top of that, I’ve been able to travel around the world and do my thing all over, so that right there is enough for me, if anything.”

That early start, combined with Bow Wow’s nomadic existence, has seen him miss out on a few of the routine definitions of American rap music. He may have lived in Atlanta for a number of years, but he doesn’t see himself as belonging to the burgeoning southern movement – or, for that matter, to any other geographical hip hop territory. “I definitely wouldn’t say I’m part of the south movement. I was signed with So So Def [Recordings, based in Atlanta] so I guess in a way I sort of was – but I dunno man, I mean it’s hard for me to really say. I think that’s more of a question for the fans, because it’s hard for me to really throw opinions on myself, so I dunno. I always feel like I’ve stayed in my own lane.”

Regardless of how he views his own rap career up to this point, Bow Wow is still busy writing new material, even as he juggles the ever-encroaching demands of his film work. Having recently signed with Cash Money, one of the most successful hip hop labels in the music business, all signs point towards a fresh Bow Wow release some time in the next 12 months. “It’s coming along great so far. I’ve just been in the studio writing, working and just putting a ton of records together,” he explains. “I really wouldn’t say I’m making an album. I would just say that I’m recording – and when the time comes for me to go ahead, I’ll have all the things I need to put together a classic album. I feel like this album will be the best one I’ve ever done; after I release these tunes, I honestly don’t know how I’m gonna top them,” he says. “My thing is just to make sure I put out a great album, to tell my story and get across the messages that I want to get across – and also [get across] something that I know my fans will want to hear from me. I think as long as I do that, I’m fine. Whatever else happens, happens; I ain’t really trippin’ off of it.”

Still, that dedication to songwriting is ultimately overshadowed by a passion for the stage, as Bow Wow’s notoriously energetic live show sees him in high demand worldwide. Chuck D noted recently that hip hop is a performance art that has gotten away from the passion and necessity of performance – but it’s a complaint that couldn’t be levelled at Bow Wow. “It’s important for me to put together a compelling live show every time I take the stage. Because, you know, it might be someone’s first time seeing me live, and you always want to leave a great impression. It might even be a person’s first concert, so I always go hard. Every concert I have, I always go hard.”

This autumn, Australia gets its first taste of the Bow Wow live show when the rapper lands on local shores for Supafest 2011. He joins an all-star bill which includes Busta Rhymes, Timbaland and Nelly, as well as his own early career mentor, Snoop Dogg. “It’s been a long time coming and I definitely can’t wait. I’m really looking forward to it,” he says. “I think it’s important that we travel. We have fans all over the world, not just here in the States, and I felt like everybody deserves a chance to see us live… It’s going to be all about entertainment. Just entertainment to the full capacity. Just a lot of high energy – and I swear to God, once you see the whole entire show, I will stand out from any other artist, trust me.”

Will Bow Wow make good on his word? Only one way to find out…

With: Snoop Dogg, Timbaland, Nelly, Busta Rhymes, T Pain, Taio Cruz, Ciara, Game,
Keri Hilson and more
Where: Supafest @ ANZ Stadium
When: Saturday April 9