Bow Wow to Retire from Rap after Final Album

He started out as Lil Bow Wow, then dropped the “Lil” when he matured and moved into acting and now he’s hanging it up entirely. After wrapping up an Australian tour, Bow Wow (born Shad Moss) announced on Sunday in a series of tweets that he’s giving up the mic at age 29, but not before releasing one last album.

“Retirement only means that it is time for a new adventure,” he wrote in an Instagram on Sunday, in which he noted that he’s sold more than 10 million albums during his career and that, as promised years ago, he’s retiring from the rap game before age 30.
Bow Wow began rapping at age six and attracted the attention of Snoop Dogg, who gifted him with the name Lil Bow Wow. A few years later producer Jermaine Dupri took the then-11-year-old rapper under his wing, releasing his debut album in 2000, Beware the Dog, which featured a collabo with Snoop, “Bow Wow (That’s My Name),” as well as the hit “Bounce With Me” (featuring Xscape) and “Puppy Love” with Jagged Edge. He followed with the No. 1 platinum album Doggy Bag in 2002, the year he aced the “Lil” from his stage name.Then came Unleashed in 2003, Wanted in 2005 and The Price of Fame a year later. The rapper teamed with Omarion for a collabo album, Face Off, in 2007, which, like the previous two albums, charted lower than his earlier efforts. His most recent album was New Jack City II from 2009, which featured tracks with Soulja Boy, Nelly, Dupri, T.I., T-Pain and Trey Songz. After promoting a new album on Cash Money Records for several years, Bow Wow announced last year that he’d split with the label and signed with Bad Boy Records.

Given his long history in the game, the series of Sunday tweets included an extended list of accomplishments, including his claims that he’s made more than $20 million off rapping and, you know, he got invited to the White House, so…

In addition to three new unnamed TV shows he’s working on – Bow Wow said he’s “focusing on acting and hosting,” as well as producing two TV shows this year. The rapper frequently stepped away from music to act, starting out on TV shows like Moesha, then making his big screen debut in Like Mike in 2002 and then appearing in the films Roll Bounce, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Hurricane Season, Lottery Ticket and Scary Movie 5, all while continuing to do spots on TV shows including Ugly Betty, Entourage and Smallville. He also hosted BET’s 106th & Park for two years.

Now that he’s moving on, the rapper said he’s prepping his final album, NYLTH, which he said is being executive produced by himself and Snoop and which will be bundled with a movie; no release date has been announced for the album.

Not for nothing, but this is the second time Bow Wow has announced his retirement, following on the heels of a 2009 interview in which he said he was hanging it up. “There’s nothing more that I want to accomplish,” he said back then at age 22.

Credit: Billboard

German Captain Bastian Schweinsteiger Hangs up His Boots

The Manchester United midfielder has said he is stepping down as captain of the national team and ending his international playing career, three weeks after Germany's exit at the hands of Euro 16 runner-up France. 
The 31-year-old said on his Twitter page: "Dear fans of the Germany national team. I have just asked the national team coach not to consider me any more for his national team selections in future since I would like to retire." Schweinsteiger, whose final game for Joachim Low's team was the 2-0 defeat to France, was capped 120 times by his country and scored 24 goals. He became captain after Philipp Lahm retired following the 2014 World Cup, which he won as vice-captain.
 His record with Germany, for whom he debuted in June 2004 in a 2-0 defeat to Hungary, reads 81 wins, 19 draws and 20 defeats. His international CV includes one Fifa World cup, two third-place World Cup finishes and a runners-up spot at the 2008 European Championship and he reached the semi-final of every major tournament he was involved in.

He added: "My thanks go to the fans, the team, the DFB (German Football Association), the coaches and the Germany national team. "I was able to run out 120 times for my country and experience moments which were indescribably beautiful and successful. "Jogi Low knew how much Euro 2016 in France meant to me because I desperately wanted to win this title, which we have not been able to bring back to Germany since 1996. "It wasn't to be and I have to accept this. "By winning the 2014 World Cup, we did something historic and also achieved something emotionally which will never be repeated again in my career. "Therefore it is only right and sensible to call it a day now and wish the team all the best for qualifying for the 2018 World Cup, and for the final tournament. "With this retirement, I am leaving the national team which has always been a valuable family to me. I hope that this bond will remain in one form or another. 
"To finish with, I would like to say to the fans 'it was an honour to be able to play for you, many thanks for everything I was able to experience with you!' 
Yours, Bastian Schweinsteiger."