Bow Wow

Shad Gregory Moss (born March 9, 1987), better known by his stage name Bow Wow (formerly Lil' Bow Wow), is an American rapper and actor.

His career began upon being discovered by rapper Snoop Dogg in the late 1990s, where he was then brought to record producer Jermaine Dupri and signed to his label So So Def Recordings, an imprint of Columbia Records.

In 1993, he performed at a concert in Los Angeles, and was noticed by rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg, who subsequently gave him a stage name, "Lil' Bow Wow".

He then appeared on the Doggystyle album on the track, "Gz and Hustlas", and on The Arsenio Hall Show in late 1993.

He also appeared in the "Gin and Juice" music video.

In 1998, at the age of eleven, Bow Wow met record producer Jermaine Dupri, who helped shape his career.

In 1999, the soundtrack to the movie Wild Wild West featured his song "Stick Up" with Dupri.

As Lil' Bow Wow, he released his debut studio album, Beware of Dog (2000) at age 13, followed by his second album, Doggy Bag (2001) a year later.

The albums were met with critical and commercial success, peaking at numbers ten and 11 respectively on the Billboard 200.

At the age of 13, in 2000, he debuted with the album Beware of Dog under the stage name Lil' Bow Wow.

Its debut single was "Bounce with Me", which featured R&B girl group Xscape.

The album also included "Bow Wow (That's My Name)" featuring Snoop Dogg, which topped the rap chart, "Puppy Love", and "Ghetto Girls".

The Recording Industry Association of America certified Beware of Dog double platinum on March 5, 2001, signifying sales of two million copies.

Moss first acted in the 2002 film All About the Benjamins as a cameo.

That same year, Moss starred as lead actor in the sports comedy film Like Mike.

In 2002, his second album Doggy Bag was released with singles "Take Ya Home" which peaked at #72 on the Hot 100 and #21 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, and "Thank You" with Jagged Edge, #1 on the R&B chart.

Doggy Bag peaked at #11 on the Billboard 200 and #2 on the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart and was certified platinum.

Lil' Bow Wow performed the track "Basketball" for the soundtrack of his film Like Mike; that song peaked at #1 on the R&B and #25 on the rap chart.

Bow Wow dropped the "Lil'" from his stage name in April 2002; he told MTV News: "I changed my name because I'm getting older now and it's too many Lil's. All these Lil' rappers, I'm just kind of getting real irritated by it. I said, 'You know what? Drop the Lil'. Forget it. I'm Bow Wow. Besides, I'm growing up, I'm not little anymore. [I just decided that] two weeks ago. I really got irritable. It's all these Lil' cats, forget it. I'm Bow Wow now. Everything is just 'Bow Wow,' no 'Lil' Bow Wow.'"

Moss' third album, Unleashed (2003) was his first release after dropping the "Lil'" from his stage name, as well as the first following his departure from So So Def. His fourth album, Wanted (2005) spawned the singles "Let Me Hold You" (featuring Omarion) and "Like You" (featuring Ciara), which peaked at numbers four and three respectively on the Billboard Hot 100 and remain his highest-charting songs.

The first album released under his new name was Unleashed in 2003.

Its first single was "Let's Get Down" featuring Birdman, the founder of Cash Money Records, which reached #14 on the Hot 100 and #6 on the Hot Rap Tracks charts.

The second single was then released, "My Baby", featuring Jagged Edge.

Unlike his previous albums, this one was not produced under the mentorship of Jermaine Dupri.

Guest appearances include Jagged Edge, Birdman, Mario, and Amerie.

Unleashed was certified gold on September 25, 2003.

He was further cast in lead roles for the films Johnson Family Vacation in 2004 and Roll Bounce in 2005.

Bow Wow appeared on the remix of JoJo's single "Baby It's You" in 2004.

Wanted was released in 2005.

His 2006 single, "Shortie Like Mine" (featuring Chris Brown and Johntá Austin) peaked within the top ten of the chart and preceded the release of his fifth album, The Price of Fame (2006).

He played a supporting role in the film The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift in 2006, a character he reprised in F9 (2021).

His sixth album, New Jack City II (2009) was met with trailing critical and commercial response, serving as his final album on a major label.

He briefly signed with Birdman's Cash Money Records in 2009 to release a series of promotional singles—including "Ain't Thinkin' 'Bout You" (featuring Chris Brown) and "Sweat" (featuring Lil Wayne)—leading up to his seventh album Underrated, which remains unreleased.

In a 2009 interview, the rapper claimed that the album had sold over 3 million copies since its release.

Furthermore, he was supposed to appear on the Murder Was the Case soundtrack with the song "After 3", featuring Kurupt, Jewell, and CPO Boss Hogg, but it remained in the vault until the early 2010s.

He then signed with Puff Daddy's Bad Boy Records in 2015, and likewise released no albums with the label.

Moss appeared in five episodes of the television series Entourage, and starred as Brody Nelson in CSI: Cyber until the show's 2016 cancellation.

Bow Wow was born Shad Gregory Moss in Columbus, Ohio, the son of Teresa Rena Caldwell (née Jones) and Alfonso Preston Moss.

At age three, he became interested in rap.

Under the moniker "Kid Gangsta", he began rapping recreationally at age six; he was also a fan of N.W.A at that age.