Bow Wow: Doggy Bag : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Now fourteen, Snoop Dogg's Mini-Me, Lil Bow Wow, is releasing his second album, and already the Columbus, Ohio, cutie is claiming that he's all about power accessories and irresistible animal magnetism. Let's hope Doggy Bag isn't an indication that he'll be laying down such clever but tiresome boasting for as long as he can sound convincing. Jermaine Dupri's tricky and exhaustive production work promises so much more, and the samples - from George Clinton to the Cars - are whip-smart. But the kid's fourteen. No matter how much he appreciates his fans (on "Thank You") for what a big star he is ("Take Ya Home"), Bow Wow's main point is that the ladies love him and he loves back. The snappy chorus of besotted girlies on "Take Ya Home" is entirely believable, as is the interlude during which Bow Wow muses on his perfect woman: "She has to be nice," he says with a sigh. He's got some flow, and the incorporation of New Edition's "Candy Girl" into "All I Know" slyly suggests that when Bow Wow gets to the hip-hop fork where street corner meets album you know you can.

ARION BERGER
(RS 890 - February 28, 2002)