He’s threatened to retire before, but this time Bow Wow sounds like he’s for real. Fresh off the lackluster first-week sales of his seventh solo album New Jack City, Pt. II (Columbia), the 22-year-old born Shad Moss announced yesterday that he’s packing up his life as a rapper and heading to Hollywood to further his acting career. We can’t say it came as a total surprise to us. During his interview with VIBE for a piece in the May issue, Bow Weezy (is he still calling himself that?) seemed more than happy being a rap star—but he did hint that the industry was starting to take a toll on him:
“[In the music business] everybody’s [coming] at you 24/7. Everybody’s [coming] at you and you’re very accessible to everybody. I’m a private person. When I do a movie, I feel like nobody can reach me. I’ve got a clear head. I know what I’m doing. I wake up every morning and I’m happy. [When I’m doing music], sometimes I wake up and it’s just bullshit. I could be mad at the label because they’re not promoting the album properly or the radio division at the label because I feel that they might not be working the record like they should be. And when that stuff starts to happen, you get frustrated. It’s not fun anymore. I love making music, I really do. It’s just the bullshit that comes with it that I just don’t like.”
Still, Will Smith money is easy if you’re, well, Will Smith. This summer, Bow Wow is set to star alongside Forest Whitaker and Lil Wayne in the high school basketball drama Hurricane Season (Dimension). But Bow Wow’s résumé on the silver screen isn’t exactly flawless. So, does he have a shot? VIBE editors Brad Wete and Chris Yuscavage play Siskel & Ebert on five of the once Lil’ one’s biggest on-screen looks thus far to see whether he’s making the right decision. Getcha popcorn ready!
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