Bow Wow has revealed he’s thankful he wasn’t able to get a hold of the money he made off rapping until he turned 18.
During his appearance on Real Lyfe Street Starz, Bow Weezy explained being famous at a young age comes with a very important perk — not being able to access any money made off a career. According to Bow Wow, he would’ve went crazy if he came into the game when he was 18 and be able to touch the money he made off his music.
“You don’t really see it. You just doing all the work and you getting, you know all the gifts and treats for being famous, but as far as being able to touch the bag, you don’t touch it,” Bow Wow said. “I’ll go back to your question when you said what’s the gift and the curse, that would probably be the only thing that for the first five years of my career I couldn’t touch none of my money.”
He added: “If I would have came in the game at 19 or 18, I probably would’ve tapped out the game cause I would’ve been like it’s crazy that I’m seeing this type of paper and I get to touch it as soon as I hit. So I was kind of thankful for that.”
In January, Bow Wow expressed his desire to see hip-hop start a union in order to protect their pockets and assets. According to the Ohio native it has to be something like the NBA’s Players Association.
“Hip hop needs a board!” Bow Wow wrote. “No different than the NBA w/ the players association. A committee. That can set rules and keep things in control and protect this thing we call hip hop! And have a retirement plan for the og rappers. I hate seeing my heros liquor’d out no money just washed.”
Bow Wow became one of the biggest teen rap stars in the early 2000s selling over 10 million copies throughout his career and an additional 14 million on the digital side. The charts have also served Bow Wow well as he earned a total of 12 top 40 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, three of them cracking the Top 10.
