Bow Wow is putting the finishing touches on his fifth studio effort, “The Price of Fame,” due Dec. 19 via Columbia/Sony Urban. The disc sees the young rapper re-teaming with longtime collaborator and current co-manager Jermaine Dupri, who serves as the album’s co-executive producer.
A video for the Dupri-helmed lead single “Shortie Like Mine” featuring Chris Brown and Johnta Austin was shot recently in Los Angeles by director Bryan Barber (“Idlewild”). The song is currently No. 44 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The rest of the new offering finds Bow Wow mostly ruminating about his experiences in the public eye. “People ask for this life but they don’t really understand what comes with it,” says the 19-year-old rapper, who is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the youngest solo rapper to top the Billboard charts.
“People just see the outside and that looks good — big houses, cars, girls, but you never see how the person is feeling deep down inside,” he adds. “Being a man, I’m going to feel better displaying all of this and pouring my heart out on each record.”
“The Price Of Fame” will be the follow-up to 2005’s “Wanted,” which bowed at No. 3 on The Billboard 200 and has sold 956,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
“I feel free. Finally I’ve gotten the green light to talk about what I’ve wanted to talk about for so many years,” says Bow Wow. “It’s definitely a real rap album. I’ve stepped up lyrically. I want to become known as more of a lyricist [and] prove I am more than a heartthrob.”
Several cuts feature 13-year-old rapper Young Jinsu, who is signed to Bow Wow’s newly formed label, the LB Dub Gang.
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