Bow Wow

When it comes to prodigies, very few in history can hold a candle to the man born Shad Gregory Moss, who is 27 years old at the time of writing, and is already an astonishing 21 year veteran in the world of hip-hop and pop. His passion for hip-hop began growing at the age of three, and by the time he was six years old he had began rapping, at first for his friends and for himself, but very soon after he started, people around him realized that he was seriously good at it for his age. So good that he hopped on stage at a Snoop Dogg concert in his native Columbus and started rapping to an audience of thousands of rabid hip-hop fans. Against all probability, everyone in attendance was seriously impressed, none more so than Snoop himself, who came up to him after the show to bestow on him the new name Lil' Bow Wow, and ask him if he wanted to come to L.A with him to start a hip-hop career properly.

Moss spent the next five years in California, and wouldn't actually release anything until after he was introduced to a record producer by the name of Jermaine Dupri in 1998, who would go on to produce and executive produce most everything that the young rapper would release afterwards to this very day. His debut album “Beware Of Dog” would come out in 2000 and was an immediate hit, powered it's top twenty hit of a lead single “Bounce With Me”. While the album itself would be certified double platinum just over six months after its release, it would go on to be bettered by his first album after dropping the “Lil'” from his stage name. His third album, “Unleashed”, came in 2003, and its lead single “Let's Get Down”, a collaboration with Cash Money Records head Birdman became his biggest hit to date by a mile, peaking at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Moss spent the rest of the decade as one of the most commercially successful rapper and pop stars around, with three top ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100 in the form of his Omarion collaboration “Let Me Hold You”, his track with then-girlfriend Ciara “Like You” and 2006's “Shortie Like Mine”. Since then, Moss has made the tricky transition from teen-idol to genuine pop star better than anyone since Justin Timberlake, and with his long awaited seventh album “Underrated” coming soon, he comes highly recommended.