Bow Wow (rapper)

Shad Gregory Moss (born March 9, 1987), better known by his stage name Bow Wow (formerly Lil' Bow Wow), is an American rapper and actor from Columbus, Ohio. His career began upon being discovered by rapper Snoop Dogg in the late 1990s, where he was then brought to record producer Jermaine Dupri and signed to his label So So Def Recordings, an imprint of Columbia Records. As Lil' Bow Wow, he released his debut studio album, Beware of Dog (2000) at age 13, followed by his second album, Doggy Bag (2001) a year later. The albums were met with critical and commercial success, peaking at numbers ten and 11 respectively on the Billboard 200.

Moss' third album, Unleashed (2003) was his first release after dropping the "Lil'" from his stage name, as well as the first following his departure from So So Def. His fourth album, Wanted (2005) spawned the singles "Let Me Hold You" (featuring Omarion) and "Like You" (featuring Ciara), which peaked at numbers four and three respectively on the Billboard Hot 100 and remain his highest-charting songs. His 2006 single, "Shortie Like Mine" (featuring Chris Brown and Johntá Austin) peaked within the top ten of the chart and preceded the release of his fifth album, The Price of Fame (2006). His sixth album, New Jack City II (2009) was met with trailing critical and commercial response, serving as his final album on a major label. He briefly signed with Birdman's Cash Money Records in 2009 to release a series of promotional singles—including "Ain't Thinkin' 'Bout You" (featuring Chris Brown) and "Sweat" (featuring Lil Wayne)—leading up to his seventh album Underrated, which remains unreleased. He then signed with Puff Daddy's Bad Boy Records in 2015, and likewise released no albums with the label.

Moss first acted in the 2002 film All About the Benjamins as a cameo. That same year, Moss starred as lead actor in the sports comedy film Like Mike. He was further cast in lead roles for the films Johnson Family Vacation in 2004 and Roll Bounce in 2005. He played a supporting role in the film The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift in 2006, a character he reprised in F9 (2021). Moss appeared in five episodes of the television series Entourage, and starred as Brody Nelson in CSI: Cyber until the show's 2016 cancellation.