[Music] foreign
he first became interested in rap at age three then at 11 he'd meet the man that would help shape
his entire music career and two years after that serve as executive producer on this young artist's
debut album Lil Bow Wow as he was called then was Unstoppable however as he went from boy to
man things going on in his personal life would not only overshadow his professional accomplishments
but also affect his mental health Shad Gregory Moss also known as Little Bow Wow and later just
Bow Wow was born in Columbus Ohio on March 9 1987. even though he's moved on from his old moniker for
the purposes of this video he'll be consistently referred to as Bow Wow after showing interest in
rap music as a toddler he would get to put on his first performance at a Snoop Dogg concert
in Los Angeles at the tender age of six Snoop was left in awe and subsequently crowned him
with the stage name of little bow wow he even featured Bow Wow on one of the tracks off his
debut album doggy style also around this time Bow Wow made a now famous appearance on the Arsenio
Hall Show five years later Bow Wow would meet record producer Jermaine Dupree after a couple
years of hard work Bow Wow dropped his double Platinum selling debut album beware of dog in
2000 at the age of 13. the project was executive produced by Jermaine and featured the lead single
bounce with me with r b girl group escape as well as Bow Wow That's My Name featuring Snoop
Dogg which top the rap chart in 2002 he decided to draw up a little from his stage name and begin
going by just Bow Wow he told MTV News I changed my name because I'm getting older now and it's too
many Littles all these little rappers I'm just kind of getting real irritated by it besides
I'm growing up I'm not little anymore I'm Bow Wow now everything is just Bow Wow no little bow wow
and he would show just how grown he was on his first project as an official adult with his 2005
album wanted the second single like you featured his first publicly known girlfriend R B singer
Sierra the couple reportedly met for the first time when she appeared as an extra in one of his
promotional videos for a concert they started dating shortly after and officially confirmed
their relationship during an interview with five Magazine on Bow Wow's next effort though
the prize of Fame the tide had turned as was evident when he dropped the track out of my
system it was his take on his and Sierra's now defunct relationship rumor has it that
Bow Wow cheated on her with various women in a 2016 interview with Vlad TV he confessed that
he finally realized how much he cared for her after he quote tried to play her years later on
an episode of we TV's reality show Growing Up hip hop he would claim that the two were also engaged
Bow Wow would actually end up two times engaged when he also put a ring on model actress and TV
personality Erica Mena for the most part while in a relationship Bow Wow and Erica were mostly
hush-hush about their romance which began after she gets hosted on his TV show 106 in par then
before anyone knew it they were engaged sadly by the following year they were done it's unclear
why Bow Wow even bothered since in 2021 he would explain why he can't be tied with a single woman
forever during an interview with The Breakfast Club I feel like God has made so many beautiful
women that for me to just be with one person It's just tough for me I have a problem it's just hard
after his debut in 2000 Bow Wow released another five more albums over the next nine
years he welcomed his first child a daughter with model dancer entrepreneur and fitness
personality Joy Chavez in 2011. less than a year later it was announced that he was ordered by a
court to pay her three thousand dollars a month in child support after claiming that
he was broke and only making 4 000 a month with only 1500 in his checking account but according
to Joy that judgment didn't do anything for her life since as of 2021 she claims to not get any
child support I take care of my kids um I don't get any child support repeat that I don't get
any child support in June 2014 Bow Wow announced via Instagram that after that Year's BET Awards
he would no longer be going by the name Bow Wow I'm going by my real name Shad Moss we made a
lot of history as Bow Wow now it's time for the next chapter and challenge Bow Wow does not fit
who I am today I'm a father businessman TV host actor and rapper time for Mr Moz to take over
two years later he officially announced that he would be retiring from the rap game after the
release of One More album which was tentatively scheduled for release the next year as of the
making of this video though it still hasn't come out something that many may not know
about Bow Wow is how much he struggled with his mental health throughout his career in the same
2016 interview with Vlad mentioned earlier he admitted that after the release of his 2003
album Unleashed his life took a turn and he found himself in a dark place those feelings
never waned and he continued to make occasional statements on social media about wishing he never
existed during this time Bow Wow was also involved in a controversy on Twitter when
he suggested to his follower that he would not be voting in the upcoming presidential
election that year in response to the suggestion that refusing to vote dishonors the struggle of
civil rights in the United States he said that he didn't identify with the fight for civil
rights because his Heritage was mixed and not exclusively black I mixed with what you're mixed
with what while the internet flocked to remind people that Bow Wow's parents despite his dad's
mixed lineage present as black people the rapper jumped to his own defense saying that people were
simply being too sensitive since he was just quote showing love to his native side [Music]
the following year Bow Wow posted a simple photo on his Instagram page of a luxury car parked on
an airport tarmac in front of a private plane according to the caption he was about to board
said plane destined for New York City where he would be doing press for the upcoming season of
growing up Hip Hop Atlanta but not long after a Snapchat post emerged alleging Bow Wow was
actually on a standard commercial flight at the same time he uploaded his jet photo the photo
ended up going viral all over social media but for all the wrong reasons as it turned
out the luxurious lifestyle Bowa was trying to convince everyone he was living was a lie
the image was later found out to be a stock photo taken from a Transportation website in
response to the debacle social media users worldwide began participating in the Bow Wow
challenge showing people posting a pair of images side by side with the first seemingly
a glamorous representation of their life and the second depicting the harsh reality [Music]
even though Bow Wow was raised by a single mother he's always missed having a father figure in his
life so in July 2017 he invited his estranged dad to be featured on an episode of growing
up Hip Hop Atlanta he and his dad whom Bow Wow described as an alcoholic attempted to repair
their relationship and Bao did appear to be very forgiving in the end though after his
father admitted that he hadn't stopped drinking Bow Wow decided he wasn't fully ready to allow
him to be present in his life in the wake of rapper Mac Miller's death in 2018 Bow Wow chose
the moment to open up about his own previous drug addiction through a threat of tweets he
admitted to using lean a mix of codeine and antihistamine promethazine combined with soda
cough syrup candy and in some cases alcohol every day a decade ago in early 2019 it was
reported that Bow Wow had been arrested in Atlanta for battery after a fight with a
woman that woman was later identified as his on-again off-again girlfriend Leslie Holden
who also goes by the name Kiyomi Leslie at the time of the arrest both suffered minor injuries
and it was unclear who the aggressor was so both parties were charged they were taken to
jail but both released after posting Bond Bow Wow became a dad for the second time when it
was revealed in the fall of 2020 that he was the father of a baby boy born to model Olivia
Skye a year later though he seemingly denied the child was his after Olivia filed for child
support ultimately the Court ruled in her favor declaring the child to be the legitimate son of
vow in the summer of 2021 and in conjunction with his versus competition against Soulja Boy Bow Wow
disclosed that the real reason why he doesn't rap anymore is because of the stress I was so stressed
putting this show together in four days for verses what y'all don't know is our hard drive crashed
six minutes before we went live he revealed on Instagram you'll need to see why I don't
want to rap no [ __ ] more this is exactly why I I'm at peace man I like hosting my [ __ ] making
more money than half of y'all Romney I like doing my podcast with Fox this right here is the number
one reason why I don't want to rap no more this is the reason why I do movies and I do so much
other [ __ ] it's because the Rapture brings stress I don't like no [ __ ] stress I haven't
been stressed all [ __ ] year up until right now I do not with rap I hate doing this [ __ ]
five out of Bow Wow's six Studio albums were produced by his longtime Mentor Jermaine Dupri
but over the years their relationship cooled considerably even though it's unclear as to
why the two had a falling out in recent times Bow Wow was taken to social media to clear up
the misconceptions that were being spouted about the actual role Jermaine played in Bow
Wow's career he's been adamant that Jermaine did not put him on nor teach him anything about the
business he also clarified that he was never signed to so-so death but rather to Colombia
and that he was discouraged from writing because Jermaine wanted to keep all the publishing while
the two were at the lovers and friends Festival in Las Vegas in May 2023 video footage posted
to Bow Wow's Instagram appeared to show him extend an olive branch to Jermaine in the
caption he revealed that even though the pair hadn't spoken in a year he would be the bigger
person by taking the first step to follow Jermaine again that post was later deleted
thank you