Bow Wow Leaving Cash Money and Linking Back Up With Jermaine Dupri
Are you independent or are you signed to So So Def?
Yeah, I’m with Jermaine. I’m no longer on Cash Money. I’m back home and I’m going to be here for life. This is where the magic happens.
You were on Cash Money for six years teasing your album Underrated, which never came out. Why did you wait six years to leave?
For me, I got so many hustles and I was doing so many other things, it would pass me by that I was on the label for three years. I was like, "Damn." As soon as I signed to Cash Money, the first thing I did was Lottery Ticket. As soon as I signed, the first thing I did was a movie. After that, I think I did another movie. Then after that, I got called on tour with Chris [Brown]. Chris called me while I was in the studio working on my album. Chris was like, "Yo, come on tour with me, Tyga and T-Pain." I left the studio, stopped my album and went on tour with them. That took up time.
So it was like, I had so many other things going on. Then 106 comes and I do that for two years. I was making so much money outside of rap that I was so comfortable, I wasn’t even checking for music like that. I never even blew up the label’s phone like, "Yo, what’s going on?" I never once tripped because I was cool. I was fortunate to have so many hustles that not doing one wasn’t hurting me. The only thing that was hurting me was the fact that my fans would want music or I wanted to put out stuff. It was a situation that I wished worked out for the best, because any situation that I do, I want it to work. Anything you do in business, you want it to win.
I don’t take my time over there for granted. I had a great time over there. I had a chance to learn a lot from everybody. I’m still cool with them to this day. I have no problem with nobody over there. I’m just a non-confrontational dude. I just did my business the cool way and the respectable way because you never know when you might need somebody. So I’ve never been the type to burn bridges with people. Now I’m back at home and I get the chance to make the music I want and give my fans what they want.
So is Underrated still coming out?
I don’t even know if I’m going to title the album that. It’s been so long. With artists, our minds change so much. Right now, I told Jermaine that I’m not even focused on an album. I want to just put out records. I just want to flood the market with these singles. I want to shoot some videos and I just want to load up. He was like, "Alright cool, we’re going to follow your plan. I’m going to do the beats and you show up. We do what we do and let’s go." We’re rocking out like that.
You’ve kind of witnessed the whole transition of the music industry where labels don’t really matter as much and albums don’t really matter as much. You’re going along with the times.
Yeah, you’ve got to. It’s crazy how it is. I remember when everybody used to be able to sell. Now, you only got five rappers, out of 55 that are dope [but] don’t sell records. It’s crazy. You just gotta move along with the times. You’re even starting to see rappers DJ now, trying to find extra bread to get. You see I took the hosting thing. I know I can’t DJ for shit. [Laughs] So my hustle was, Let me get into this hosting thing. That might open up another lane. Once I dipped into that, it did. I just had a big ass meeting the other day. I can’t really talk about it, but I had a big meeting with somebody really big out here in Hollywood. It would have never happened if it wasn’t for 106 & Park. That was the first thing this man brought up to me in the meeting.
You’ve got guys like Jay Z, JD and Diddy who did it, just sticking their hands into everything. Bottles, clothes, television, owning companies, records labels; they’re just dipping into everything. That’s what you gotta do nowadays to stay above the rest and to separate yourself. That’s what I’m trying to do. That’s why I got the NDI Vodka and AYC clothing line. We just signed Snoop to push the clothing line, which is big. I’m just trying to make moves. The next step is producing in television. In the next couple of weeks, y’all going to see these moves that I just made and you’re going to be like, "Okay, this boy ain’t fucking around."
CSI: Cyber is a huge win for you. I just saw that you guys got renewed for a new season. How has that experience been?
Dope. It’s been a learning experience. It’s the hardest acting job I ever had in my life. I mean that. I’ve done a lot of acting but not to this magnitude. From the words to everything, even the pronunciation. This is the high A-level of acting. It’s crazy because I never had any acting background experience. I’m raw with my acting. Nobody taught me any techniques or how to remember things. I’m a self-teacher. I’ve always been a person to teach myself. Working with Patricia Arquette, who’s an Oscar Award winner, and to be a part of a franchise as big as CSI, it don’t get no bigger than this. When you get a chance to roll with winners, it always feels good.
