andPOP - Pop Culture With Substance

Soulja Boy’s sophomore and latest album “iSouljaBoyTellem” was a test.

Like many artists looking to make the transition from a music career to an acting career, Bow Wow is the next star to join the cast of a successful television show. The 21-year-old rapper will be joining the fifth season of HBO’s “Entourage.”

“After 16 years in the music industry and six successful albums, I’ve decided to shift my energy to something else I’m passionate about, acting,” he said. “I’m going to try to be the next Will Smith.”

The rapper will join the Emmy-Award winning show by playing Charlie, a stand-up comic who becomes a new client of E’s.

Bow Wow has appeared in films “Roll Bounce” and “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift” and has made appearances on TV’s “Ugly Betty,” “Smallville” and “Moesha.”

After rapper Bow Wow, formerly Little Bow Wow, landed a bed in a local hospital last week, representatives from Bow Wow’s camp announced that the hospitalization was due to exhaustion and stress. Only a few days later, his representatives released another press statement alleging that the reason for Bow Wow’s hospitalization was an appendix infection causing the rapper to faint.

This week, however, the 20-year-old came forward with the truth about what actually put him in the doctors’ care. According to him, he had thrown a fit in his dressing room causing him to cut his hand open severely in the process.

Currently touring with Chris Brown, Bow Wow has not graced the stage since Dec. 6. At an event at Harlem’s Wadleigh Secondary School for the Performing & Visual Arts, Bow Wow reassured fans and press that he’ll be just fine.

“I’m taking my medication, everything is gonna be cool. We’ll see if I have to have surgery as of right now, [but] I’m feeling fine”

Bow Wow was hospitalized last week after a concert performance, as was previously reported. The young rap star is now said to be suffering from an appendix infection.

It was first reported that stress and exhaustion were the initial reasons for the hospitalization.

Bow Wow is said to be well and on a smooth road to recovery but won’t be back on the road to perform until Wednesday’s show in Memphis, Tennessee.

The rapper will miss the sold out Baltimore date.

Fans in Chicago will have to wait a little longer to see their favourite lil’ rapper take the stage.

Bow Wow has canceled an upcoming appearance in the windy city after being rushed to a Cincinnati hospital Friday.

The 20-year-old rapper was hospitalized after performing at the U.S Bank Arena, MTV reports.

Sony BMG issued a statement on behalf of Bow Wow saying the star is well but still undergoing tests. The young MC cites “stress and exhaustion” as the reasons for the sudden trip to the ER.

Bow Wow has been headlining his current tour with other young hip hop stars, namely Chris Brown, Sean Kingston, Soulja Boy, and Lil Mama.

His new album, Face Off, a collaboration with Omarion, hits stores Tuesday.

The tour will roll into Chicago on Friday night without Bow Wow, according to Sony.

“He loves [his fans] and will be sure to come back to Chicago soon!” the company said to MTV.

Bow Wow’s growing up. In fact, on his latest album, “Unleashed,” he doesn’t sound or look the way that he did when we saw him last, which was just a year ago. He had a big growth spurt, his voice deepened a couple notches, and most importantly, his music is taken to the next level.

He can thank his deeper voice for the enhancement to his rapping. He no longer sounds like a kid, meaning he can now justifiably be compared and held up against his fellow rappers. The 16-year-old also is now believable when he sings about girls, which a lot of the songs are about.

The tracks aren’t just rap about girlfriends though. His song with Amerie, “To My Mama,” pays tribute to his mother, with lines like, “Anything you need from me Mom you know that it’s yours/ You’re the only woman in my life that I adore.” That songs is not to be confused with “Hey Little Momma,” where he tries to pick up a girl.

The production on the album stands out amongst everything else. Almost every song has potential to become a hit, especially “Eighteen,” produced by Lil Jon, where Bow Wow sings about his anticipation of turning 18. Swizz Beats’ “Get It Poppin’” also stands out.

There are three Neptunes produced tracks, but aside from “I’ll Move On” with Mario, Bow Wow could have done without the hit-makers since they create the worst part of this album. “The Movement” is especially boring and it would have served Bow Wow better to just rap without a background track.

What’s with the nicknames? As seen on his last album, the “Lil’” has been dropped from his name. On this album, he calls himself “Boweezy,” Jagged Edge call him “Bowizzle,” and the Neptunes call him “the Don, the Dutch.” It may be hard to keep track, but as long as Mr. Wow keeps turning up with material like this, his name could be Nick Carter and he’d still sell records.

4*
Columbia/Sony