Bow Wow Talks “Lottery Ticket,” Cash Money And Millions

You know him well… we all do.

His name is Shad “Bow Wow” Moss, and he is confident. So confident

that he could make the average soul uncomfortable.  Don’t be…

Bow Wow is humbled. You could even say that he’s a little scared.

To a young man which had his career laid out for him since the age of

5, 2010 and beyond could be his great unknown. 

Alas, 2010 marks the 10 Year Anniversary

of his debut album Beware of Dog. Yet there is an aura Bow Wow

gave off; 6 albums, 8 movies to his credits, and 2010 is only the beginning?

In his voice, the answer was yes. And the beginning is August 20th

when Lottery Ticket arrives at theaters across the country.  

Part 1 of our Lottery Ticket feature

gave us total access and unfiltered perspectives to Cube Vision’s

visionary, Ice Cube. Part 2 delivers on an extremely vocal leading man,

ready to put the ‘boy’ behind him. Bow Wow talks about his preparation

for the role of Kevin Carson, his respect for the leading lady Naturi

Naughton, and the Ambassador of his next album. 

AllHipHop.com:

Take us back to when you were approached about

‘Lottery Ticket’. Was the role of Kevin yours from the very start? 

Bow Wow: My agent called me. Told me

that there was this project pending. They wanted to get me over to the

office for a meeting. I met with Erik White. I was familiar with from

his music video directing. Erik told me that if I’m going to do this

movie that he needed me attached to the Kevin role. He said, “When

I think Kevin, I think you.” I remember taking that long flight back

to Miami, reading the script. And by the time I landed, I was in. We

contacted Erik and from there, all the dominoes were put into place.

Here comes (Ice) Cube, here comes (Mike) Epps, here comes Charlie (Murphy)

and here comes Loretta (Devine). The momentum kept growing. From day

1, I knew that this would be a home run for us. I’m just excited to

be on board. 

AllHipHop.com:

In which ways have you prepared for this role? 

Bow Wow: I watched a lot of movies.

I’ve watched “Juice”, one of my favorite movies. Watching Tupac,

watching ‘Bishop’ and ‘Q’, the roof scene and all that. I needed

all of that as far as the moods of the movie. And you can tell. I wanted

to show people that on screen. We’ve watched a lot of duo movies like

“The Pineapple Express”, “Bad Boys”, and of coarse we’ve watched

“Friday”. We wanted to watch some of the greats. We’ve taken bits

and pieces from every movie. And it helped us out a lot. 

AllHipHop.com:

Talk about one of the goals you’ve set for yourself in taking on this

role. 

Bow Wow: I just wanted to nail it.

I wanted to show the audience that this is not the rapper, that is the

actor. I wanted people to believe it. And so far, so good. People are

telling me that it’s believable and that it’s a good film. I put

all of my all into this. I shut down my schedule for two and a half

months. It was a dream come true working with Cube and Mike. I didn’t

want to let anybody down.  

AllHipHop.com:

I talked to Ice Cube the other day about the climatic scene of the movie,

the moment between you and Brandon T. Jackson. Cube said he received

a call once you were done taping the scene and he was told that you

and Brandon nailed it. Without giving too much about the scene, what

was it like working with Brandon and talk about what went into

it. 

Bow Wow: There was really no preparation

for that particular scene. That was the first scene of the morning.

Brandon and I were laughing and joking. But when they called out, “Action”,

we ripped it. To me, when you’re acting, you’re trying. I become

the character. If you become the character, you could be doing anything

at the time someone yells, “Action”, and you’re back in character.

That’s how it works for me. Brandon and I just tapped into the moment.

And when we heard, “Cut”, we were back having fun. I was back tweeting

to my fans.  

AllHipHop.com:

The leading lady for the film is the lovely

Naturi Naughton. What have your learned from and about one another while

working on Lottery Ticket? 

Bow Wow: It was very easy working with

Naturi. We both started our music careers around the same time (Naturi

with 3LW). I remember being on tour in London early on in my career

with them. It’s funny how God works. I never would’ve imagined that

we’d be working together after all these years. She held her own in

this movie. She has so much experience. She pays a lot of attention

to detail, wanting to make sure that every scene is perfect. She’s

very dedicated to the craft. I can really work with an actress like

that. She made my job easier. I have eight films under my belt, as well

as the Tyler Perry film that I’m shooting right now. I learned from

Naturi. She didn’t need any advice.  

AllHipHop.com: Is the Tyler Perry

movie you’re speaking of “Big Happy Family”? 

Bow Wow: Correct. I’ll have the pleasure

of working with Loretta Devine once more. It’s another huge cast.

I’m very excited about how my acting career is taking off. I am taking

on all challenges coming my way. The pressure of carrying a Cube Vision

film on my shoulders to working with Tyler Perry; man, skies the limit

for me. No telling what’s going to happen next. 

AllHipHop.com:

You grew up in front of millions of people. And with that comes advice

from all directions. Everybody seems to know what’s best for Bow Wow. 

What is some of the best advice you’ve received and maybe some advice

you’ve ignored over the years. 

Bow Wow: I don’t mean to sound stubborn

or anything like that, I’m not to fond of taking career advice. I

am fine with personal life advice. As far as the business, there’s

nothing that no one can tell me; I’ve been doing this since 5. I’ve

been fortunate enough to have amazing mentors like Snoop and Jermaine

Dupri, now I have Baby as a mentor. These are guys that I have been

around my entire career. This is why I don’t have to ask about anything.

When you have greatness around you, you never have to ask for advice.

The only time I ask for advice is when it’s personal. Otherwise, I

hold my own.  

AllHipHop.com: So how is everything

coming along with Cash Money? Any albums or

mixtapes slated to drop in between your movie endeavors? 

Bow Wow: It’s simple, I’m moving

in any direction that God wants me to move. This Hollywood thing is

taking off for me right now. And it’s scary because I don’t have

as much time as I once had to get into the studio. But I’m writing

and I do have the “Green Light Mixtape” dropping on August 22, 2010.

It’s all about making sure that it’s the right moment. I’m bringing

in Jadakiss as the ambassador of my album. I’ve decided to bring him

on because I know Kiss. We’re close. I remember going to Yonkers for

a basketball event that he had. He brought me to the hood and we hung

out. There are some personal things that he knows about me. One of my

closest friends is from Yonkers. And when he went away, I held him down.

When Kiss heard about that, he gained even more respect for me. He hadn’t

a clue of how loyal I am. So that brought us closer. I said to him that

it would be a blessing to have him in the studio while I was working

on my new album, to just push me. This is what I meant by bringing him

on as the ambassador for the next album. I wanted to have someone on

my side with a true respect for Hip-Hop. Kiss is someone that people

wouldn’t normally pair me with. But we all know that Kiss is dope.

He is one of the illest emcees of our time. I wanted someone in the

studio like that to push me. If I wrote something that was wack, I needed

someone to tell me that it’s wack. I need that type of coaching around

me, and why not from a Top 5 emcee of all time, without any doubt. I

can’t wait. 

AllHipHop.com: You have a very busy

schedule ahead of you, so I don’t want to take up too much of your

time. What would you like to end this conversation on? 

Bow Wow: Definitely go and check out

“Lottery Ticket”, support it. We have a great cast. People will

love what we’ve done with this. I got a brand new mixtape on the way.

I got a brand new album on the way, the beginning of next year. Jadakiss

will be on the album, my Cash Money family will be on the album. I will

be in NBA 2K11 with Michael Jordan on the cover. I have a playable character

in the game (Bow Wow). It’s amazing being a part of one of the largest

NBA video game franchises, and to be in it is a blessing. I got a lot

of big things going on right now. And I just want to continue to have

fun and remain humbled. I’m working extra hard right now to be the

best I could be.