After eleven years in the business, two hit albums, touring and the shrills of adoring teenage girls, it was time for Lil Bow Wow to grow up at the ripe old age of 16.

Having dropped the "Lil", Shad Ross, aka Bow Wow, is back with a new album entitled Unleashed.

He says this album has special meaning to him.

"I definitely feel I had more control over this album," he says from MuchMusic studios after appearing on Much On Demand.

"The reason being because I had the opportunity to really just sit down in the studio and really put my creative thoughts into it. Not only that but just the amount of time we actually spent on this album and I feel that this album right here I had a lot of input into it."

The rapper's third album, which Bow Wow wrote roughly 90% of, is a more mature, soulful and stronger effort than previous albums Beware Of Dog and Doggy Bag. Bow Wow says that the idea he envisioned and the final product is the same.

He also says that he wanted this record to be more personal.

"I really wanted fans to get a true life glimpse or just a feeling of the new Bow Wow," he says.

"What I'm doing, what I've been doing on my time off and basically just addressing the questions that needed to be answered, which I answer on this album. I really wanted to be as authentic as possible. I wanted each song to be about something."

He also wanted the album title to have meaning while maintaining the canine theme.

"It basically means it's a transition, from Lil Bow Wow to Bow Wow and it was about me being held onto a leash as a little kid," he says. "I wanted to break away from that leash someday, therefore I'm unleashed from that and I'm running free now."

Bow Wow also acted as executive producer on the record along with his mother Teresa Caldwell. He says that they often separated the professional from the personal side of things.

"We like to keep it family, family and business, business," he says.

"Sometimes it can get into family business, which we don't like, and at the end of the day we'll walk around not talking to each other. But the only bad thing about it is that I still have to live in her house, so that's the only bad thing about it."

Bow Wow says that he can have a difficult time performing some of the older material. For one thing, his voice has deepened and the topics of some songs he can't relate to. But he still gets the same feedback in concert for them, which is all that matters.

"As long as I perform my classics, it doesn't matter," he says. "By the time I'm 50 I'm still going to be performing my classic songs and my first single."

The rapper isn't a stranger to the big screen either. His first movie Like Mike whetted his appetite for more, resulting in two more roles in The Johnson Family Vacation and Mr. President, the latter starring Will Smith.

"I'm going to win an Oscar," he says.

Then beside his record company, Bow Wow started his own clothing brand, Shago Clothing.

So is he spreading himself too thin with so many fingers in different entertainment pies?

"I always wanted to do this because I want to put my hands on things I haven't put my hands on," he says. "I'm just trying to build my business as a young man. I'm 16 and I want to see me be comfortable by the time I'm 23 years old. So hopefully if I stay on the right track I can get there."