It can be a bit hard to take the outlandish personality of Bow Wow seriously. Named Shad Moss, he is almost always associated with memes when his legacy pops up on online forums. That isn't to say that his ridiculous reputation isn't deserved. From posting fake private jets to alleged photoshopped images of stacks of money, Moss has faced public scrutiny. However, it's easy to forget that Bow Wow's career solidified him as one of the most influential people in hip-hop. He has a vast collection of Gold and multi-Platinum selling albums, chart-topping hits, and various successful acting roles. Bow Wow sat on a shared throne with contemporaries such as Snoop Dogg as the biggest name in music.
However, people within the hip-hop industry still remember how influential Bow Wow was. It's why Diddy pulled the 36-year-old aside at a party. The business tycoon gave him tough love, stating, "You better understand your brand and get out here and go to work." Drake put it plainly over Instagram Live, saying, “If it wasn’t for you, there wouldn’t be no me." California native Vince Staples went on The Breakfast Club and added, "Bow Wow was hard. I'm tired of n***as acting like Bow Wow wasn't hard." The point is, MCs who grew up with Bow Wow on the radio know how influential he was to modern-day hip-hop and R&B. He was truly a one of kind creative.
Bow Wow Was A Teenage Sensation
Bow Wow fell in love with rap at a young age. He was inspired by the burgeoning wave of West Coast rap spearheaded by Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre. As a kid, he adopted the name Kid Gangsta and began freestyling over beats in the solace of his childhood home. When The Chronic Tour was announced with Snoop and Dr. Dre, a six-year-old Shad knew he had to see the duo live. During Dr. Dre's tour, Shad managed to get on stage with the two icons and deliver a rap verse. The moment would change the course of his life for good. Snoop Dogg was immediately impressed with his uncompromising energy and skill for his age. Now dubbed Lil Bow Wow by Snoop, the duo decided to bring him on for the remainder of their summer tour.
After a successful tour of The Chronic, concert-goers were leaving venues wondering who the heck the flamboyant kid was. A logical next step, it wouldn't be long before he began recording music in a studio setting. Bow Wow quickly changed the game surrounding age in the music industry. He proved that confidence was half of the battle, waltzing around the stage as if he was the biggest artist in the world. That kid-like swagger garnered a massive audience. Over a week, Bow Wow sold over 100,000 copies of his debut studio album Beware of Dog. By the age of 13, Bow was global. Tracks such as "Bounce With Me" and "Puppy Love" soared to the top of the charts.
Bow Wow's Early Career Success Was A Blessing & A Curse
He wasn't only doing it big on the top charts. Bow Wow was looking to leverage his success into a career in the acting world. Of course, he was able to achieve so with flying colors. There was an aura of invisibility about Bow Wow at the time, seeming as if he could not fail. He would appear in several blockbuster Hollywood films, such as Roll Bounce and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. In fact, he later stated that the real motivation behind his music career, beyond financial gain, was to set himself up for placements in the acting world.
By 2005, Bow Wow was everywhere. No longer a kid, he had grown into a composed and parading teenager who continued putting out hits like clockwork. Projects such as Wanted would see Platinum-selling success. However, his image was starting to change. Much of his appeal had been his youthfulness and vitality when he entered the scene. Now approaching adulthood, issues were beginning to rise to the surface. In some ways, his highlight success had set him up for failure later in life. On The Breakfast Club, he stated, "Sometimes I just question life. Like damn, what else is even there for me to do?"
Bow Wow's Career Is No Longer Only In Hip-Hop
It was later revealed how careless Bow Wow was with his finances as a teenager. Sporting a $2 million mansion and a car collection that included a Lamborghini, his money began to run dry when his hip-hop career began to slow down. He was reportedly on a salary of merely $4,000 per month at Cash Money Records, later getting out of his deal after claiming that the label wasn't releasing his album. This isn't to say that Bow Wow's career has completely fallen off the map since the late 2000s. He appeared in 2021's The Fast and The Furious: The Fast Saga. In 2022, he tweeted that he wanted to release his last album under Snoop Dogg's Death Row Records. As he put it, "I'm tryna do the D Wade and come home and close it out." However, we haven't heard news of a new album since.
Even if Bow Wow's hip-hop career hasn't sustained itself beyond his young adult years, there's no denying that he made a lasting impression on the scene. Rapping alongside mentor Snoop, younger generations were inspired to begin creating hip-hop at an earlier age. It's why the likes of Drake and Diddy want to see the teenage icon become a modern-day legend. However, Bow Wow seems to be focused on revitalizing his career in the film or the boardroom rather than in music.