The latest to be like Mike (Jordan, that is) with the mic — think Jay-Z and DMX, among others — is, fittingly, "Like Mike" star Bow Wow.
At the recent "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift" premiere (see " 'The Fast And The Furious' — Now With Brains Under The Hood"), star Bow stopped short of using the R-word — not that "retiring" from hip-hop has meant much so far (see "Dre, Ja Rule, P. Diddy Have All Threatened To Retire — But Will They?") — but said his upcoming fifth album "might be the last one."
"[If so] we're going to go out with a bang," the former Lil' rapper said. "It's definitely going to be the biggest album that I've ever done."
Bow Wow is early in the recording of the as-yet-untitled album, but already has his first single ready.
"It features Chris Brown and it's called 'Shorty Like Mine,' so that definitely could be the biggest record of my career," he said.
The album, due around Halloween, will again be overseen by Jermaine Dupri and will be what Bow described as "very different."
"I'm going for a more edgy, kinda mature sound," he said. "Now that I'm 19, I'm able to talk about a lot of things that I've experienced in my life."
So if this is Bow Wow's last musical endeavor, where does that leave him? Well, acting, for one.
"Scripts keep coming into the office daily so I'm reading, trying to pick the next one," he said. "There's actually one in negotiations right now, but they don't want me to say. But definitely get ready to see me in at least two more movies. Last year I promised myself I'd do three movies and this ["Tokyo Drift"] is one right here."
For now, though, there's only one movie that Bow's been attached to that has yet to be released, and he's not sure where that stands. "Last thing I heard about 'Mr. President' was they're redoing the script," he said. "I guess it's still in the works, but I don't know if I'm doing that movie yet."
After "The Fast and the Furious," Bow Wow feels ready for anything ... even if that means learning how to drive again.
"I didn't know how to drive a stick, so the first day was tragic," he said of his "Tokyo Drift" experience. "I never wrecked a car, though. I just stalled it 80 million times."
— Corey Moss, with reporting by Larry Carroll
