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Weezy For PREZ!!!??
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Bow Wow To Play Free Concert For Charity |
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07.22.2003 |
Bow Wow may not be Lil' anymore, but he's still got love for the young'uns. On Wednesday, Bow Wow will perform a free concert in New York City's Bryant Park to support Computers for Youth, whose mission is to improve the educational, social and economic prospects for low-income kids and their families by providing them with home computers and the skills to use them. The event will also feature such guest speakers as Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, Computers for Youth Executive Director Elisabeth Stock and even Bow Wow himself. CFY partners with middle schools with high poverty statistics and then donates computers to every student in those schools. The organization takes computer donations in lots of 50 or more and they've donated 3,000 computers to date. Bow Wow's new album, Unleashed, is due August 19 (see "Bow Wow Unleashed On Next LP, Talks About Life Post-Jermaine Dupri"). Me - I was there, it was mad coo
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NEW YORK "This is Bow Wow season," the 16-year-old beamed Wednesday night at Sony Studios.
Bow Wow has sheared off his long braids for a new look, is headlining the Unleashed Tour later this summer, has gotten beats from the Neptunes, Lil Jon, Bink and Jazze Pha for a new album and will launch his new clothing line on June 10. Not to mention the fact that he's got two new movies on the burner. (Click for photos of Bow Wow in the studio.)
"I'm the main character of course, again," Bow explained of his role in the upcoming flick "Mr. President," which he will begin shooting next year. He inked the deal Tuesday night with the Will Smith-owned Overbook Entertainment, which is producing the comedy.
"It's about a teenage kid who wins an essay-writing contest and gets to be the president for a day, but ends up being the head of state permanently. It's gonna be funny. No telling what I'm gonna do in office [but] I'mma be wilding out fo' sho.' [The movie] is a great opportunity for me."
B.W., who is also "still in the talking stages" with the WB network for a sitcom, will be hitting the silver screen much earlier than 2004, however. "The Johnson Family Vacation," in which he and Solange Knowles play the children of Vanessa Williams and Cedric "The Entertainer," will debut this fall. He said that Cedric would often give him advice on the movie set (see "Bow Wow, Solange Go On 'VacationWith Cedric, Vanessa Williams").
Bow also obtained pearls of wisdom recently from another celebrity he had the pleasure of working with this year Baby from Cash Money. The Birdman lays his mack down on "Let's Get Down," the first single from Bow's Unleashed, due July 22 (see "Bow Wow To Seek Lessons On Macking, Gliding On 22s In New Clip").
"I told my A&R [guy] that I really wanted to do a record with Baby," Bow said. "Throughout [recording] the whole album, that's who I wanted to do a song with. He was actually going to be on another record but it turned out that he was on 'Let's Get Down.' I was real excited.
" 'Let's Get Down' is a party record," he added. "Baby is instructing me on my pimp game. [He said,] 'Dog, this is what you need to go do.' I'm listening to Baby. He's like the godfather. The concept of the video is that I go to the DMV to get my license. I get in the car and Baby's my instructor. We're in Atlanta taking a tour [and] Baby is like, 'Bow, pull over. Tell this to shorty.' He tests me on my speaking game with the ladies. A normal DMV person would be testing you on your right turn, [saying] 'check your mirrors.' Me, I was tested on did I spit game to the girl correctly."
Another track off Unleashed, "I'll Move On," finds Bow Weezey talking to everyone, not just the girls. "Let your boy grow up," he raps on the track, which the Neptunes produced with Mario singing on the hook. On it he tells his fans that just like everyone else, he will make mistakes, and they should not over-analyze his moves as he grows from a boy to man.
"Life goes on as I roll on," he says in his new, deeper voice over the tune's bouncy piano and drum-enhanced beat. "I can only be a child for so long/ Y'all don't want to see my childhood prolonged/ But it's time Bow Wow said so long/ Y'all ain't ready for the new phase."
But when B.W. finally does reach adulthood, he said, watch out. No more baby ballin' for him. Produced by Lil Jon, "Eighteen" is a musical wish list of things Bow wants to do once he becomes legal the first being hitting the clubs. The cut starts off with him being turned away at the door by a bouncer because he's too young. Wow goes on to proclaim that he's looking forward to hitting that age milestone when he'll be able to ride on his own clean rims, buy his own house and get a girlfriend who's older than him.
Other tracks off Unleashed include "The Don," where he raps with swagger ("He's the Don, the Dutch," Pharell Williams says on the hook) and "My Baby," where he comforts a broken-hearted friend.
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Bow Wow's sophomore album is still a couple of weeks away, but that hasn't stopped the formerly pint-sized rapper from bringing his music to the people. All grown up, Bow Wow is in the middle of a three-week tour to preview his upcoming Unleashed.
The 16-year-old is facing some adult-sized decisions, too, that have added a touch of controversy to his trek. Just before the tour began, Bow Wow excused "Uh Ooh" singer Lumidee from the opening slot, instead choosing to headline the shows solo and use up-and-coming artists from his own label as support.
"I wanted it to be all about my people," Bow Wow explained diplomatically. "It's cool to have other people on tour, but I want my family to eat. I want my people to have a shot."
Recognizing the need to get up close with his fans, Bow Wow is playing smaller stages. "It's more up-close-and-personal this time. In smaller venues, I get a chance to interact with the fans and the fans get a chance to interact with me."
Bow Wow calls the smaller spots "easy sellers," but they're still places that have the capacity to hold a few thousand fans a testament to his popularity and his new single, "Let's Get Down," featuring Cash Money hurler Baby (see "Bow Wow To Seek Lessons On Macking, Gliding On 22s In New Clip").
"The crowd to me is way crazier inside smaller venues because there's only so much you can do. We got people packed to the cellars, screaming. It's crazy."
The tour wraps up on August 17 in Flint, Michigan, two days before the release of Unleashed.
Those who don't get a chance to see Bow Wow perform live will at least be able to see him in a new commercial for Campbell Soup that begins airing next week. Campbell is one of three organizations Bow Wow has aligned himself with to be a commercial pitchman. The other two are Kraft Foods and Computers for Youth, a foundation that looks to provide computers to disadvantaged inner-city youths (see "Bow Wow To Play Free Concert For Charity").
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