Bow Wow Announces His Retirement From Music

Shad Moss—better known as Bow Wow—has announced his retirement from music over the weekend. Moss shared photos on social media with a message to his fans. At 29 years old, he is hanging up the mic for good.

Moss embarked on a tour in Australia, stopping in cities such as Canberra, Newcastle, and Melbourne. After performing at a club called Alumbra, 

 Some fans were perplexed by the announcement, saying that he was technically already “retired” from rap.

This shouldn’t come as much of a surpise. Moss has struggled with his relevancy in hip-hop since exploding on the scene as Lil’ Bow Wow in the early 2000s, when he earned several platinum and gold albums alongside his mentor Jermaine Dupri. Bow Wow’s adult career had a few recognizable moments like when he made Face Off with Omarion and signed to Cash Money in 2009. Outside of music, he's made a career in television with gigs like hosting BET's now defunct 106 & Park and playing a top hacker named Brody “Baby Face” Nelson on CSI: Cyber. 

Since then, he’s attempted several times to spark interest in his music again, recently leaving his situation with Cash Money and reportedly signing a management deal with Bad Boy Records. This decision was supported by a collaboration with Dupri (“WYA (Where You At?)”) and new music (“All I Know”) that were released last year.