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Review: Bow Wow's stab at mature content an ill fit for lil' audience

Posted by pushplay

Posted: September 24, 2007 - 11:38 am

By Barry Piser
Anchorage Daily News

Rapper Bow Wow and friends performed Sunday night at the Sullivan Arena under the theme “Back to School” – capitalizing on the headliner’s teen idol status. The show itself came off like an awkward teenager, unsure of itself but yearning to be cool with macho posturing and bragging.

Bow Wow live in ANC: Bow Wow rocks the mic Sunday night in the Sullivan Arena. Bill Roth/Daily News

National hip-hop star Bow Wow himself is 20-years-young and trying to make a transition to an older audience. The problem is that the more mature audience was definitely not among the thousand or so fans at the Anchorage show.

The age range of attendees was evident in the largely empty “wet” side of the arena. On the alcohol-free side, teen girls dominated the audience and one could see six-year-olds hoisted onto shoulders.
The focus of the songs Bow Wow and his “friends” – opening rappers Lil’ Fizz and David Chris – performed were the trappings of the rap lifestyle: money, cars, women, sex, houses, girls and jewelry. Repeat.
Not exactly a great message for a “Back to School” concert for teens and kids.

Bow Wow and friends didn’t pick the theme – that honor probably should go to spelling-challenged Cold Frunt Productions – but they certainly didn’t tone down their acts for a younger crowd.
A shirtless Chris told the crowd he was “lovin’ these girls here.” At one point during his set, the chorus recommended that the crowd focus on “money over (derogatory word for women, derived from dog breeding)” while a trio of back-up dancers clad in booty shorts writhed to the music.

As I pondered this deep message, I was brought back into reality when a young girl ran smack into my leg, hitting no higher than mid-thigh. Recess this was not.

Lil’ Fizz spent the majority of his set rhyming about how many chains, cars or houses he could buy, with a mix of sexual overtones thrown in for good measure. The teenyboppers loved this, especially when he asked, “How many ladies are trying to get in my bed tonight?” The small-in-stature Fizz didn’t resort to going shirtless to gain audience approval, but added numerous gyrations and threw $1 and $5 bills to elicit shrieks.

Bow Wow finally hit the stage just over two hours after the show’s announced start time. Unlike his counterparts for the night, Bow Wow is a seasoned solo performer who exudes charisma, engages the crowd and actually has hit records under his belt. He told stories, including that the first girl he dated – in middle school – was from Alaska.
He shined, despite the least-flashy outfit of the night: gray Nike sweatsuit, white T-shirt and toned down chain. He did sport a watch that was likely worth more than most of the cars in the Sully parking lot, though.

Bow Wow performed his set with confidence and it was largely radio-friendly fare – save for a freestyle-esque flow about the things he would do in bed to all his celebrity crushes. During “Let Me Hold You,” his last song of the night, he ran to each side of the stage and made a lewd sexual gesture that the fans seemed to appreciate.

Bow Wow sent the school-set home happy, but not without one final message: He dedicated the show to the Jena 6 in Louisiana, telling the kids to look it up online or watch the news. It was a mature move but one that held little value after the two hours of bad judgment that preceded it.

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8 September 2, 2008 - 5:42am | sam2000

good

7 July 10, 2008 - 8:58am | emadwh3

Great article, keep up the

Great article, keep up the good work.
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6 June 23, 2008 - 12:59pm | johannabartley

He's not even old enough to

He's not even old enough to sing about alcohol rehab and lost love. Did he ever really love?

5 June 10, 2008 - 1:23am | Kruger1977

If this song is for Ciara,

If this song is for Ciara, then why does it say "If I could turn back the hands of time t& correct all the mistakesa I ever did! He didn't do anything wrong right?
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4 September 26, 2007 - 12:39pm | rethomas

I have to say it is

I have to say it is disheartening to see such poor coverage on this event. No effort was made to interview the artists or the fans attending but one person was able to give their opinion to the masses, again one person gave their opinion. The article was obviously written by someone who was not a fan with nothing positive to say about the artists. My family and friends attended and loved it. Yes, the sound system isn’t very good in the Sullivan but the artists gave a great performance for their fans. The show was very tame in consideration for the younger crowd and was much cleaner than what is shown on VH1, MTV or BET which many kids soak up daily. Most sports are considered family events and I have seen athletes take their shirts off with no outcry from the public but an artist is criticized for doing this with someone insinuating something very ugly.

To blame the promoters for what artists do with their show is ridiculous to say the least. And to think anything is done without the artists knowledge is just naïve as they are in control. The artist management even limited the number of meet and greets with the fans. The “wet side” was empty because the adults were sitting with their families and when is that a bad thing? The picture in the paper was in my opinion deliberately taken of a group of very young fans and did not show the older fans present.

No mention was made of the VIP Social the artists attended with local non-profit leaders asking how they can help the Anchorage community. No coverage on how they participated in the Dare to Care program with Miss Alaska to help feed local kids who can’t afford school lunches. One artist was shuttled directly from the airport to the Fairview Recreation Center to speak to 200 kids for the Mao Tosi program called Stop the Hits, in the effort to curb teen violence in our community, that’s OUR community. No news coverage again? I thank them for taking an interest though some in this community are more concerned about what the artists were wearing during the concert.

I am responsible for what my children watch, not the artists or the promoters. I am sure a lot of parents feel they should be allowed to make this call. I talk with my children on what to expect and answer any questions they may have afterwards, as a parent. I hope the promoters do not get discouraged and continue to bring such A-List artists to Alaska for those of us who want to see them. Maybe, not at the Sullivan but wherever they are my family will be supporting them.

3 September 25, 2007 - 10:01pm | Omartia

Bow Wow's concert from a parent that was there.

I read the article about the concert and it was quite unflattering. I was disgusted your headline "Bow Wow and "Friends" to raunchy for lil' fans." It was unfair and inaccurate for that performance. I was there, so I know first hand how the concert went.
1. Many kids were being dropped off by parents.
2. KFAT, had their truck outside, but wasn't playing any music for the crowd gathering. I talking to the two nice young ladies with the backstage passes around their neck and asked them "Why, wasn't there any music playing." that's when the cocky radio personality said as he continued to stuff pizza slices into his mouth. (He was wearing a grey knit cap) "Why play music while they wait. "They can listen to us at home." He was talking to someone else, as he opened the truck door to grab another slice of pizza.

The concert started around 6:30p.m.Soulja Boy was there, so was David Chris and LiL Fizz. They had meet and greet around 7:00p.m.with BOW WOW. There were two dance groups from Alaska that performed after Soulja Boy. The male dancers were outstanding. Bow Wow didn't hit the stage until around 8:00p.m.

The whole right side(wet side) was empty and it should have been. It was a kids concert, so no alcohol should have been sold period.

The sound system was awful. From where I was sitting you could hardly hear what they were saying with the mics. You could mostly hear the background music, but the mics were muffled. They came in and out with you being able to hear bits and pieces from the mics that the artist were using with the music playing behind them.

The wildest thing was that a few artist took their shirts off and threw them to the crowd in front of them. There was not any gyrating by anyone. A couple of quick pelvis thrust by Lil Fizz and Bow Wow, that even Elvis himself would have said was tame. Overall it was a tame
Pg-13 "Kid " concert.

Mr. Piser failed to mention that many of the teens in attendance walked away from the stage when David Chris performed his set. They simply were not interested in what he had to say or what his dancers were doing.

Even though the Sullivan was hugely empty with the crowd predominately on the left side( dry side), the show still went on. That to me proved that it wasn't about money, but about the fans. Bow Wow could have cancelled like many others have done in the past due to low tickets sales.

Bow Wow did mention "Jena 6" to the crowd to remind them (youth)to study and read the news and beware of the world around them, because what happened to them could happen to anybody, even himself. That comment was clearly heard by all, because there wasn't any music playing. That comment did make impact, because as I was leaving with my two children I did hear a few teenagers ask "Who" and "What" Jena 6 was about. My eight year old even asked me and I carefully explained it to him like a parent should do with questions from minors.

Who cares about what he was wearing. It was typical
Hip- Hop clothing. So what that the watch he was wearing cost more that 99percent of the cars in the Sullivan Arena,
he worked hard for what he has. He showed those young kids that if you worked hard for it you can get it yourself, follow your dream. Lil Fizz did rap about cars and money and as a former child performer with the group B2K, he has also earned that right. The songs that Bow Wow performed were "Bounce with me." , "Shortie like mine", "Let me hold you." "Like you", Fresh Asimiz" , "Where my dogs at"' and " Take you home." Three of these songs were recorded while he was 13 and the rest will he was 18. Before you can say he used lewd lyrics , you first need to listen to the cds containing these songs to know that they was mostly
"Bubble gum" rap by someone in his early to late teenage years. They contained no sexual undertones.
Most are about simply dancing.

My daughter,son,their friends,myself and my friends enjoyed the concert and I'm glad that I took them. I'm glad that they had fun at their first concert.

It's funny to me, how eveyone was worried about this event. Saying that there would be violence, because it was a rap concert.The young people that night prove that they could handle themselves and others with respect, dignity and simple manners. No fights took place at this event.
I'm glad and proud that these kids proved that the media and others could be wrong about their generation and rap music.

Next time, Bow Wow comes to Ak , I'll take my kids again and will watch with them again, but I hope it's at the PAC where the sound system is much better and the host of a popular radio station and the promotors will respects their core listeners/ audience enough to play music outside as they wait in line, in the cold for their favorite entertainer. I hope that the afterparty is at a location that the celebrity, himself can get into, so he can meet more of his fans. A location that is not banned to the military and off limits to anyone under 21. Maybe more parents will come and watch and enjoy with there children instead of just sitting at home reading bogus headlines by a reporter that just wanted to say something negative, because it was a "Rap" concert. Maybe it will be on a Friday or Saturday,so more kids can come. Maybe, once again I hope that they (the youth) will prove that they can go to a concert have fun without violences and a news crew will be there to capture that moment first hand with actual interviews with the people that were there to comment about the event. Melanie Ginn-Williams

September 26, 2007 - 10:44am | cmcmillian

Thanks!!

thank you, you proved my point exactly....Capture the moment of the show instead of downing it.....

2 September 25, 2007 - 10:17am | cmcmillian

Don't Judge the Artist

Even though people still have in their mind that Bow wow is still young this is a 20 year old. So if parents are allowing thier 11 and 12 year olds to go to concerts of this nature why would you say it was not approriate or he was making derogatory comments or gestures? Maybe the parents that felt this way should make better judgements of concerts they let thier kids go to. It's not like alot of concerts come to AK anyway....

September 25, 2007 - 1:26pm | northernlight

you can blame a lot of people ...

The promoters: for putting on a "back to school" themed show that obviously wasn't communicated to the artists, who obvioously weren't performing for kids. Add in the fact that it was poorly organized with an opening hour of virtually nothing followed by over an hour of crappy openers and then just 40 minutes of Bow Wow. The sound did suck. The promoters saw the chance of filling the arena with kids and got maybe 2,000. Maybe. They lost money. They were greedy in their attempt but failed miserably, one would have to assume, given the emptiness of the Sullivan.

The performers and their management: for not being involved enough to know how the show was being marketed locally. When you look out at an audience of kids, you should probably realize that crude and explicit material isn't what the crowd was expecting.

And, yes, ultimately the parents. They should've done their homework a bit better. Or walked out. Maybe some did. But in the hip hop world it would be easy to think a "Back to School" concert from the once kid-friendly Bow Wow would be a place to take/send your kids. It wasn't.

September 26, 2007 - 10:46am | cmcmillian

"And, yes, ultimately the parents. They should've done their homework a bit better. Or walked out. Maybe some did"

You negated your comment about alot of people to blame with the above statement you made....

1 September 24, 2007 - 11:45am | pushplay

Sound system ruined concert

Something needs to be done about this, I'm tired of wasting my money going to a concert at the Sullivan arena to not be able to hear it because of their lousy sound system.

I spent $200 to take my kids to the Bow Wow concert so they could experience a concert for the very first time and it was a huge disappointment. That amount doesn't include what I spent on t-shirts and sodas. I'd like to see you run a story, I want this brought to the attention of someone who can do something about it.

I heard that M.C. Hammer stop performing in the middle of his first song and refused to perform if the sound system wasn't fixed when he was here. I have been to several concerts at the Sullivan and it seems that
the Country concerts are usually the only ones worth attending due to the sound system.

I went to ZZ Top and that wasn't Very good, I've been
to Reba, Lone Star and Brooks and Dunn there. I have also attended 3 concerts at the Egan center...Tobby Keith, Warrant and Charlie Daniels and they were good concerts but they don't fit a whole lot of people,
you would have to do several shows to get everyone in. Thank You -- Charles Jordan

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