Last year the Internet was buzzing around Bow Wow as working
video vixens voiced their discontent with him unapologetically and embellished
rumors spoke of fatherhood with a certain retired “brain” aficionado. As
friendly banter via YouTube between he and his friend “Chuck” made headlines in
urban entertainment, so did the embarrassing defeat of losing the subsequent Madden
challenge. Since reconciling his
friendship with his big brother, Jermaine Dupri, the hitmakers have made
efforts to not repeat the same mistakes Nino Brown & Gee Money did in the
movie New Jack City.
This year is about glory as the self proclaimed “Mr. ’09”
prepares to set the tone of his seventh album, New Jack City Part 2. Releasing
freestyles on YouTube and a mixtape with DJ Infamous called Half Man Half Dog Vol. 1 were daring
efforts to put his lyrical skills out on the table, which pleasantly grasped
the attention of doubting Hip-Hop fans.
On his first official single, “You Can Get It All,” Bow Wow
cleverly samples TLC’s 1992 classic “Baby Baby Baby” while “Rock The Mic,” is a
bass-heavy track where JD and Bow Wow discuss their friendship in a ”Stuntin’
Like My Daddy” type of style.
Slated for a March 31st release date, New Jack City Part 2 has been promised to be the album to
transition doubting fans into believers.
As he begins his break out year in full gear, Bow Wow expounds on why he
will not apologize for being a grown man.
AllHipHop.com: You’re going on seven albums deep in
your career right now and Hip-Hop has literally watched you grow. Are you finding it harder to garner
respect from older people in the industry and older fans?
Bow Wow: Not now. I think the reason why not now is because of the material
I’m putting out. I think now they
are seeing a different Bow Wow as opposed to what they’ve been seeing. There’s a freestyle that ya’ll
put up on AllHipHop.com called “Crooked.” I think as long as I keep coming with
hot material like that, they don’t have anything else to do but to respect the
music and to respect me because the one thing they can’t knock is good
music.
Bow Wow /f Yung Joc “Big Girls” Video
AllHipHop.com: I don’t know if you seen the rumor
section lately, but Illseed posted up –
Bow Wow: He’s wrong! That’s my song! I’m mad at
Illseed, but that’s my dude though!
[laughs] He’s always posting
up all of my stuff, but actually “Big Girls”– that record was so
old. That was my
song—actually Young World Music, the same people who produced Swizz Beatz
“Money In The Bank,” produced “Big Girls.” The song was supposed to be for my album until I redid the entire
album. I ended up doing a viral
video for [“Big Girls”], which is the one that y’all see with the big girls and
all of that. So no, I’m not the
swagger jacker. I like Mike
Epps’ version and it’s funny… That’s what Hip-Hop is for. If it’s hot, you jack it, you jump on
it. It’s no different than what I
do with my YouTubes in the Internet world, so it’s all good.
AllHipHop.com: Speaking of the Internet world, at
one point last year Dollicia and Rita were going at you when they appeared on
Lip Service that could be seen on a YouTube video.
Bow Wow: You’re
talking about Rita G.?
AllHipHop.com: Yes. Where did all of this beef stem from?
Bow Wow: Honestly, I don’t talk about people
that don’t really deserve to be mentioned. Nobody even knows who she is, so therefore I’m not going to
shine no light on her. Nobody
knows who Rita G. is, so there’s no need to talk about her. It’s not even a beef or anything, I
just don’t know her. I never met
her so it’s kind of like I don’t even talk about people that I don’t know, nor
do I shed light on people that…
AllHipHop.com: So she was talking about you and you
never even met her?
Bow Wow: I never even met her, no. Dollicia, yes. Rita G., no. I never met her and I’m
not even going to talk about her.
I don’t even know her.
AllHipHop.com: Well, everyone knows this
person—Karrine “Superhead” Steffans. For a while the Internet was buzzing about you having a link
with her. Would you like to speak on the rumor?
Bow Wow: It was just a
rumor. When I heard it I
laughed. Everybody was calling me
from my mom to all my homeboys.
The thing is I don’t play about kids. I grew up without my father. If I had a kid—that’s something I
don’t even play with—I definitely would be there and I definitely
wouldn’t lie to ya’ll and say, “I don’t have one.” I’d be the first person to tell the world I got a kid, I
would be thrilled!
AllHipHop.com: When these things happen to you,
what goes through your mind after a while?
Bow Wow: At the end of the day it is all
some type of entertainment and everybody has to be entertained. I get a kick out of it just like the
bloggers and the people at work who are at their cubicle or their desk… I’m
used to just about everything, there’s nothing that nobody can say to me or do
to me that could really just break me down. I’ve always just been that type of person. I’ve seen it all, I’ve been through it
all, and that’s really my whole take about rumors and the things said about me.
AllHipHop.com: Sometimes people like to paint a
picture about you especially with you allegedly running around with vixens and
rumors saying you spat on Chris Brown during your tour. Do people come at you a certain way in
the industry where they don’t want to mess with you like that because they
think you’re emotional?
Bow Wow: Never, it’s always the press that’s
doing it. I’m respected by everybody in Hip-Hop. You name it, I could pick up the phone and call any of my
big homies and they’ll get on a song for me and do anything for me. People know me. Like I said my work speaks for
itself. I’m turning 22 in March,
by the way…
I’m a young dude and I’m winning and I’m doing it. I was on Entourage smashing a chick. That’s every young 22 year old’s dream
to be on Entourage and doing those
types of things. When people look
at it, it’s never that because they know my character. They know that’s not how I get down. Everybody knows I did a record with
Chris and I toured with Chris.
That’s my dude! I
would never do something like that, so when people say those things they
automatically don’t believe it.
They call me first and say, “I know you didn’t.” instead of, “Why did
you do it?” because they know it’s not true. Everybody knows it’s not true. Anything crazy that comes up like that is all the way not
true.
AllHipHop.com: Have you seen a change in your fan
base?
Bow Wow: I have now. [It’s] more guys.
AllHipHop.com: What about the ladies?
Bow Wow: They’re going to be there. The reason why I said that is because
they know at the end of the day I’m always going to shed light to them no
matter what. What I mean by that
is always making records for girls.
I love ladies, what guy doesn’t?
I’m going to always cater to them but now it’s different. It’s really all due to my freestyles
and my YouTubes. I think if
I never started my YouTube I never would have connected with another fan base… A couple of years ago it wasn’t like
that. Whatever I did the dudes
didn’t like it.
AllHipHop.com: Earlier you mentioned your
appearance on Entourage and that
infamous scene that you did. How
vulnerable did you feel because you both were naked.
Bow Wow: Yeah! [laughs] She was totally
naked. [Jenaveve Jolie] was a p###
star. Actually I had on some type
of boxers but it didn’t look like it though because they actually had them made
to where they matched my skin, but she was completely nude. Did I want to be nude, of course. Why not? I didn’t even know I actually had a sex scene until
that day. My agents didn’t tell
me, nobody told me anything, so I was just kind of stuck out there. So when they told me I was like, “What?!” I went ahead and did it… I didn’t
understand why it was a big deal… This was the first time people seen me in
another light.
AllHipHop.com: But it’s you! We first saw you
almost 10 years ago right under Snoop Dogg. Here you are now with tattoos and you’re smashing a p###
star. That’s not what we are used
to seeing, but these must be steps to make people accept you as a man now.
Bow Wow: I think “make” is a forceful
word. When you say “make” it’s
like you’re forcing people to like something that you do. But me, these are things that I’m
doing. There’s only so much that I
give the people. They only know me
from Bow Wow. They don’t know me
for what it is when I’m not on TV or when I’m at home… The reason why I did Entourage wasn’t because I wanted to
prove people I was grown, it’s because I am
grown… I can’t be little all over again… I’m doing s**t because it’s me. I’m having sex, safe sex, so I don’t
see no fault on me having a sex scene.
Bow Wow f/ JD “Roc the Mic” Video
AllHipHop.com: You and JD have a great
relationship together and you’ve said that he’s like a father to you. Have you spoken to him since he left Island Records Urban Music?
Bow Wow: Of course! JD is good. [laughs]
JD is good, man. He’s not
tripping at all… There’s nothing at this point that could break JD down. He’s been with two other big labels, he
knows what he’s doing and it’s time for a change. Anytime you’re at a place you don’t feel comfortable at it’s
time to move on to the next chapter.
That’s basically what he’s doing, but is he tripping off of it? Nah. Until
another producer could come around and produces an album that sells 10 million
records like he did for Usher in this time, because they’re hasn’t been another
producer that could do that, then that’s what it is. Right now, JD is good money. He’s straight.
AllHipHop.com: Do you think his contribution to music
on an executive level has been overlooked?
Bow Wow: Definitely. I think Jermaine has been overlooked, period. I
just don’t understand why Jermaine doesn’t get that respect and he knows
it. You can’t even say Jermaine
fell off because, like I said, the last album he produced was Confessions… He brought Mariah back with The Emancipation of Mimi.
Even with me when I went off and did my own album, I only went gold on
that album. When I came back with
Jermaine, I bounced back and sold a million copies. I think Dr. Dre is the best
Hip-Hop producer of all time. All
around producer I got to give it to Jermaine because he could give you whatever
it is that you want, whether it’s a rap song or an R&B record.
AllHipHop.com: At one point last year you spoke about
retiring after your eighth album.
How realistic is that now that you’re coming out hard with your music?
Bow Wow: Now? I can’t stop now.
I got another mixtape too coming with Infamous at the end of the month
called Half Man Half Dog Vol. 2. I
don’t think I can stop right now just because I’m too addicted to the studio,
I’m too addicted to making records, I’m too addicted to making freestyles and
I’m too addicted to wanting to be the best in ’09. I’m already kicking off the year in a strong way. I feel like not only will I be letting
myself and my dreams down, but I’ll be letting my fans down and that’s
something that I don’t want to do neither. Win or lose I’m going to keep going.
AllHipHop.com: Are you finished with New Jack City Part 2?
Bow Wow: We’re complete but we’re still
getting records mixed and things like that. It’s different. Basically what you’re getting is what
you’re seeing. To me, this is the best album yet because it’s that
groundbreaking Bow Wow where I could potentially hurdle over that hump to get
people to say, “O.K., I mess with Bow.”
The album is crazy.
Everybody is on the album I got Wayne, T.I., T-Pain, Ron Browz, Nelly,
Swizz did two records for me on the album, of course JD did like six
joints. This is the one and I
think this is the first album that has a sticker on it. [laughs] Like I said I’m not trying to be something that I’m
not. I’m just being me. People can’t fault Bow Wow for being
Bow Wow. I’m going to always be
me.
AllHipHop.com: We got nothing but love for you over
here, but that Madden game with The Game—
Bow Wow: [laughs]
AllHipHop.com: You lost!
Bow Wow: I lost bad, I not even going to front
to you. I lost really bad. I had
no clue that Game was as good as – [laughs]—he was. We had fun… He came through he had the
whole Black Wall Street with him.
They had these Black Wall Street towels waving them around my face. It was hot in the place. The place was real small too. I had
like 20 people with me and [he had] like 100 Black Wall Street n****s. It was home field advantage all day…
Would I do it again? Of
course.
Snoop called me and told me to give Game a message. Snoop told me that he’ going to whip
Game’s ass in Madden since he beat up on [his little brother]. Snoop said he
wants to challenge Game to [a Madden challenge]. Snoop was mad.
Snoop was over in Ireland when he heard about it and he called me like,
“How y’all didn’t put me in it? Just because Game kicked your ass, you tell
Game that your big bro want to kick his ass in Madden.” I’m going to put that
up, Snoop and Game is going to be the next one. I’m going to kick back and beat down the king. I’m done
getting my ass beat in Madden, I’m cool.
