Bow Wow opens up about forgiving his father for broken relationship
Bow Wow says his life turned around once he learned to forgive his estranged father.
The rapper, actor and TV host stopped by theGrioLIVE to talk about the latest season of his WeTV reality show “Growing Up Hip Hop: Atlanta” (GUHHATL) opening up about an emotional scene filmed for the show:
“The idea of me talking to him was playing in my head for so long,” Bow Wow told theGrio, saying he called the GUHHATL production team once he agreed to meet with his dad.
“I was gonna do it anyways, because I need it for my life.”
Bow Wow, 30, who also goes by given stage name Shad Moss, said the motivation for finding forgiveness came once he stepped into his own fatherhood responsibilities, fathering a daughter, Shai, in 2011 with model and dancer Joie Chavis:
“I just wanted him to know I don’t hate him. I outgrew that part. Once I had a kid and I’ve experienced some things with me and my daughter’s mom and how we rock, I kinda understood why might have he ran out or why he wasn’t around or why he left. There are reasons. My father was an alcoholic. Heavy. I didn’t want to be around him when I was young and of course my career took me to other places.”
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Bow Wow said despite the healing conversation, he prefers to keep the relationship at a distance:
“Even to this day, he reaches out but we still don’t talk. I’m cool. Not even on no cold shoulder type of sh*t, it’s just, I’m about to be 31. You missed so much. I don’t know where we would start, I just wanted you to know I don’t hate you.I know you’ve been probably thinking, ‘Damn, this the only son I have and he looks just like me and he hates me.’ There’s no way I want you to leave this world knowing- you think that I hate you.”
When asked what helped him to move past the bitterness, the rapper says growing older and working through co-parenting challenges with his daughter’s mother, taught him to step up.
“Life’s gonna tell you when it’s time, you’ll feel it… The older you get, the more mature and wiser you become.
…We gotta stay there for our kids. Especially black men, we gotta be there for our kids… I just want to fix that statistic and not become that statistic and just- do my job and do it the right way.”
Catch Season 2 of Growing Up Hip Hop: Atlanta on WeTV on Thursdays at 9pm/8pm central.
Natasha Alford is a digital host and Deputy Editor of theGrio. Follow her latest news updates on Twitter and Instagram at @natashasalford.
Watch more of theGrio’s exclusive interview with Bow Wow on theGrio’s Facebook page:
