| Tue. 09 20. 2005 12:00 AM EDT
The kid can act. In the new Saturday Night Fever-goes-to-the-roller-rink drama Roll Bounce, rapper Bow Wow comes across as shy, sensitive, and pretty handy on eight wheels. In real life, he's the opposite -- outspoken, charming and brimming with
So, do people still call you "Lil'"? They do, but it doesn't really get to me. It does when I go to radio stations, though - they should know better. What actors have inspired you? Tupac. Hands down. Everybody probably thought I was gonna say Denzel Washington! [Laughs.] I really respect Tupac. One of my favorite movies that he was in was Juice. I watched that movie a lot when I was doing Roll Bounce. I looked at my character, X, as similar to his character Bishop in some ways. His career was cut short, but I feel like if he were still around, he would dominate the film world. How hard was shooting the skating sequences in the movie? That was like the easiest part for me. I'm from the Midwest. We used to skate like every Saturday and Sunday. I still have my skates. I brought my own personal skates when I was shooting the movie. The hard part was the intense acting scenes. Did I ever fall? Not once. Roller-skating isn't as popular as it once was. Do you think people today will relate? I'm sure there are still a lot of cats that go skating. It's like video games; it's something that'll never grow old. It's always going to be here. You've got old hands skating. Young cats skating. Babies that skate. There are people who grow out of it and then again there are a lot of people who won't grow out of The disco soundtrack is amazing. Were you a fan of that era's music? Yeah, definitely. I do rap 24/7. So George Clinton helps me relax and free my mind away from what I'm known for. I feel like [disco] crosses over into rap. It's something that won't die. We'll still be able to dig up records and make them hot. That's just a part of hip-hop. Who are you listening to right now? I just bought the new Kanye West album. I'm a big fan of hip-hop, so I like to support everybody. What did you think about his comments about George Bush? He was speaking his mind. Everyone has a right to the freedom of speech. You can say whatever you wanna say. I was talking to my mother, and I was like, "Have you noticed they only show blacks [on TV]?' They didn't show anybody else. It was only a matter of time before someone was gonna step up and say something. It's a crazy world we live in, man. Did you know anyone affected by the hurricane? The rapper Baby was on my first single from my third album. I tried to call him when everything happened, but I didn't know that even the cell phones went down. When they showed it two days after it was hit, it was crazy. There was water everywhere and it was like a movie, it seemed unreal. I always compare it to 9/11, because that was like a Die Hard movie. I remember people thinking the world was coming to an end and some people had nothing. It's sad. I feel like they could've reacted to this situation faster. Now they're starting to put some pep in their step, and people are contributing to the whole situation. In the movie, X has some awkward moments with the girls. Do you have any dating disaster stories? Nah, never. Never. I was always cool. I'm not shy at all. I never get nervous around the ladies. Never? What about all those women at the VMAs? Nah, nobody. I just smile and they just come. Obviously it worked for Ciara... We went to the BET Awards together, we did the red-carpet thing together. It's cool. We're used to it. We're just trying to get everybody else used to it. Just like any other celebrity couple. I just deal like it's any other situation. It just happens to be that she's hot, and it's the same way on my end. We both handle it really well. |
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