Bow Wow rose to fame in the early 2000s under the stage name Lil’ Bow Wow, dropping hit records like “Beware of Dog” and singles such as “Bounce with Me.” Over the years, the rapper, whose real name is Shad Moss, captured even more success after putting out staples, including “Like You” with Ciara and starring in the movies “Like Mike,” “Johnson Family Vacation,” “Roll Bounce, and “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.” With all of the success that’s come his way, Bow Wow, 39, is used to life in the spotlight. But would he want his daughter, 15-year-old Shai Moss, living the same life?
Speaking with PEOPLE at the 2026 BET Awards, Bow Wow said he wouldn’t be opposed to his daughter, Shai, following in his footsteps. However, if she wanted to have success like his, she’d have to do this one thing.
“Be serious about it. Don’t play with it,” Bow Wow said. “And if you’re serious, let’s do it. I got your back a hundred million percent — and we are going to get it done.”
For Bow Wow, he’s not like some other famous parents. He said if his daughter wants it, she has to work for it. “I’m not one of them parents that’s forcing it,” he shared. “She’s got to want to do it, and that’s how you build that love for this, and you’ll never want to leave it.”
Bow Wow looked back on his career, which started at age 13, and said that forcing his child into the spotlight 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 if she decides to do it, I got it,” he added.
Bow Wow Previously Said The ‘Lifestyle’ That Comes With Being Famous Isn’t Everything
Back in 2023, Bow Wow, a Columbus, Ohio, native, shared a vulnerable post to his Instagram Stories, revealing that, despite being rich and famous, the “lifestyle” isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. He mentioned how sad he was that he wasn’t able to go to “prom nor college.”
“Just woke up… Thinking to myself like d-mn… I never been to prom nor college. I wanna pledge so bad I wish I was apart of a fraternity,” Bow Wow wrote online. “Yall think Im lucky because of my lifestyle but I really want 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 they were supposed to. “Not at all. Everything happens for a reason. I’m just one of the chosen few that actually grew up in the limelight and maintained and still be normal,” he said.
While Bow Wow is open to letting Shai pursue a career under the bright 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.”
“If they want to be actors [later] in life, I would be so supportive of it,” she said. “Can you imagine me being [a] mom [who is] pushing her kids out there? That’s not going to happen.”
Ed Sheeran Has Similar Thoughts
And Barrymore isn’t alone in her thinking. “Thinking Out Loud” singer Ed Sheeran revealed on the “Table Manners with Jessie Ware” podcast that if even his children wound up with musical abilities such as his, he’d keep them as far away from the industry as possible.
“I think it’s from being in the music industry — I’m like, ‘I would not wish this on my child.’ I would hate for her to be known as my daughter rather than just Lyra; I want her to have [her] own identity,” he shared.
Angelina Jolie Hopes Her Kids Discover Another Career 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 like her children to pursue careers outside the realm of entertainment.
“We’re hoping, I think, that the kids don’t become actors. We want them to be happy and do whatever they’re interested in, but I think we’re hoping to show them so many ideas and other options that they won’t want 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.”