Bow Wow Gets Down To Business, Investing In NBA Team

March 9th, 2007 | By Administrator

Music may be Bow Wow?s present occupation, but the rapper is laying the groundwork for life beyond the mic with various business ventures.

Among those is Prestigious, a shoe store he co-owns with Atlanta radio personality Greg Street.

The store is the first taste of business success away from the music industry for Bow Wow, who plans on opening another sneaker store, franchising his first McDonald?s and sharing ownership of an NBA basketball team.

“I can?t say what team yet, but it?s definitely gonna go down with a certain NBA team,” Bow Wow told AllHipHop.com and hinted that news about the investment will be made public at the end of next month.

Those wondering if Bow Wow?s pursuit of acting has taken a backseat need not worry. The multi-tasking emcee is taking steps to make major moves on the big screen.

“I have a lot of stuff on the table,” Bow Wow said. “I want to do two movies this year and I definitely have the opportunity to do so. Be expecting two movies out of Bow Wow. Two big movies out of me. I guarantee one of these could possibly be, if I do this movie, could definitely be like an Oscar role or an Oscar movie for sure.”

With Blacks making strides at the recent Academy Awards, the opportunity seems right for the rapper to make an impression.

“Black Hollywood is definitely wide open and I?m just trying to really go ahead and take it over now,” Bow Wow shared. “I got the opportunity to do so. Why not?”

Despite the surge in extracurricular activities, Bow Wow is aware that his good fortune stems from what got him to the table.

The rapper, who is currently gearing up for a summer tour, will soon be heard alongside Mariah Carey on Bone Thugs-N-Harmony’s forthcoming album Strength and Loyalty.

“Music has always been something that I love to do, but at the same time it?s opened up a lot of doors for myself to tap in to different markets,” said Bow Wow, who is anxious to get back into the studio to start work on the follow up to his most recent album, The Price Of Fame

“Luckily, these markets have been things that I?ve been dying to do and that I really want to do as far as movies and other business ventures, so life is great right now, I can?t complain at all,” Bow Wow said.

Jermaine Dupri To Be Honored During Soul Train Music Awards, ASCAP Awards

March 9th, 2007 | By Administrator

Grammy Award winning songwriter and producer Jermaine Dupri will be receiving top honors this year at the 21st Annual Soul Train Music Awards and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Awards.

Dupri will be recognized with the Quincy Jones Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2007 Soul Train Awards, which will be held Mar. 10 in Pasadena, CA.

ASCAP will honor JD by awarding him with his sixth achievement as Songwriter of the Year during the 24th Annual ASCAP Pop Music Awards, which takes place April 18 at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles.

Dupri will share his Pop Songwriter of the Year honors with his prot?g? singer/songwriter, Johnta Austin.

Dupri, who was recently named head of Island Def Jam’s new Urban department, won Songwriter of the Year at the ASCAP Rhythm and Soul Music Awards in 2005 and 2006.

In related news, ASCAP’s Rhythm & Soul Team will present an executive roundtable titled “State of the Industry – Uncut, taking place Mar. 20 from 7-9 pm at Clark-Atlanta University’s Robert Woodruff Library Exhibition Hall.

The event will be moderated by Tremayne “Tre” Anchrum (Director, Creative Affairs, ASCAP) and will feature such music industry executives like Shakir Stewart (Sr. VP A&R, Island Def Jam Music Group) Chaka Zulu (Co-CEO of Disturbing Tha Peace Records), Chris Hicks (Sr. VP A&R Urban, Atlantic Records and Sr. VP
A&R/Head of Urban Music, Warner Chappell) and others discussing the state of the music industry.

The event is free to the public.