Bow Wow rose to fame within the early 2000s under the stage name Lil’ Bow Wow, dropping hit records like “Watch out for Dog” and singles resembling “Bounce with Me.” Over time, the rapper, whose real name is Shad Moss, captured much more success after putting out staples, including “Like You” with Ciara and starring in the films “Like Mike,” “Johnson Family Vacation,” “Roll Bounce, and “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.” With all the success that’s come his way, Bow Wow, 39, is used to life within the highlight. But would he want his daughter, 15-year-old Shai Moss, living the identical life?
Speaking with PEOPLE on the 2026 BET Awards, Bow Wow said he wouldn’t be against his daughter, Shai, following in his footsteps. Nonetheless, if she desired to have success like his, she’d must do that one thing.
“Be serious about it. Don’t play with it,” Bow Wow said. “And when you’re serious, let’s do it. I got your back 100 million percent — and we’re going to get it done.”
For Bow Wow, he’s not like another famous parents. He said if his daughter wants it, she has to work for it. “I’m not one in every of them parents that’s forcing it,” he shared. “She’s got to need to do it, and that’s the way you construct that love for this, and also you’ll never want to go away it.”
Bow Wow looked back on his profession, which began at age 13, and said that forcing his child into the highlight could cause more harm than good.
“If I put it on her and make her do it, it ain’t going to work. So it’s all on her. But when she decides to do it, I got it,” he added.
Bow Wow Previously Said The ‘Lifestyle’ That Comes With Being Famous Isn’t All the pieces
Back in 2023, Bow Wow, a Columbus, Ohio, native, shared a vulnerable post to his Instagram Stories, revealing that, despite being wealthy and famous, the “lifestyle” isn’t all that it’s cracked as much as be. He mentioned how sad he was that he wasn’t capable of go to “prom nor college.”
“Just woke up… Pondering to myself like d-mn… I never been to prom nor college. I wanna pledge so bad I wish I used to be apart of a fraternity,” Bow Wow wrote online. “Yall think Im lucky due to my lifestyle but I actually need what yall have.”
In a separate interview with the Associated Press, covered by TODAY, Bow Wow said that he still wouldn’t trade his childhood for the world, noting that things played out the way in which they were purported to. “In no way. All the pieces happens for a reason. I’m just one in every of the chosen few that truly grew up within the limelight and maintained and still be normal,” he said.
While Bow Wow is open to letting Shai pursue a profession under the brilliant lights, several celebrities, including Drew Barrymore, are against their kids growing up as they did.
Barrymore, who was only seven when she appeared in “E.T.,” told PEOPLE in 2018 that she refuses to let her children be “kid actors.”
“In the event that they need to be actors [later] in life, I could be so supportive of it,” she said. “Are you able to imagine me being [a] mom [who is] pushing her kids on the market? That’s not going to occur.”
Ed Sheeran Has Similar Thoughts
And Barrymore isn’t alone in her pondering. “Pondering Out Loud” singer Ed Sheeran revealed on the “Table Manners with Jessie Ware” podcast that if even his children wound up with musical abilities resembling his, he’d keep them as distant from the industry as possible.
“I believe it’s from being within the music industry — I’m like, ‘I’d not wish this on my child.’ I’d hate for her to be generally known as my daughter moderately than simply Lyra; I need her to have [her] own identity,” he shared.
Angelina Jolie Hopes Her Kids Discover One other Profession Path
Angelina Jolie, known for her expansive catalog of iconic roles, including Jane Smith in “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” told The Sydney Morning Harold that she, too, would really like her children to pursue careers outside the realm of entertainment.
“We’re hoping, I believe, that the youngsters don’t turn out to be actors. We wish them to be blissful and do whatever they’re all for, but I believe we’re hoping to point out them so many ideas and other options that they won’t need to act,” she said.
As she continued, Jolie said that while she wouldn’t stop her children from becoming actors, she hoped they’d also do something else. “I’d like them to do other things with their lives,” she said. “We’re a bit nervous about that.”