Columbus, Ohio native Lil' Bow Wow, known simply as Shad to his friends, began rapping when he was only six years old. When he threw out his stylings to the audience on the Chronic Tour, one of those most impressed was Snoop Dogg, who quickly nicknamed the young talent Lil' Bow Wow.
Things moved fast for Lil' Bow Wow, and by the age of 13 he had a long list of impressive credits by his name. He has worked on soundtracks for movies like the Wild Wild West and Big Momma's House, providing upbeat tracks like "Bounce with Me." He has been featured in a number of magazines, including Esquire, Vibe, and People. His photo has even been spread on millions of free book covers that Dr. Pepper produced for schools. In 2000, Lil' Bow Wow recorded a...a debut album, Beware of Dog, for So So Def label. Under the guidance of executive producer Jermaine Dupri, the young artist reached multi-platinum success and delivered a hit follow-up, Doggy Bag, in late 2001. One year later, he starred in his first feature film, Like Mike.