Bow Wow

Upon making his debut in 2000, Lil Bow Wow appeared as an unexpectedly popular adolescent rapper. Upon closer inspection, though, the young hip-hop upstart turned out to be produced and mentored by Jermaine Dupri, and the aformentioned debut BEWARE OF DOG featured a guest appearance by Snoop Dogg himself, after whom the younger canine is partially modeled. Parents of young hip-hop fans everywhere were relieved to find that Bow Wow entirely avoided both expletives and objectionable topics in his lyrics, instead favoring more of a good-time ethic descended straight from the tradition of the Jackson 5. Bow Wow's popularity extended to film and TV, as he appeared in ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS and on the MOESHA series.

• pop
• hip hop/rap