NEW YORK — Lil' Bow Wow gave some of his fans an early Christmas gift Tuesday — a free concert to celebrate the release of his new Doggy Bag. There was a small catch, however, for the hundreds of screaming kids who showed up — it was advertised that you had to purchase a copy of his LP to come inside the show’s venue, the Hammerstein Ballroom.

For some, just to see the 14-year-old pull up to the concert hall in a convertible red Hummer wearing his matching red sweatshirt and skullcap was well worth the price of admission. "I just saw Lil’ Bow Wow, he’s really here," said one little tike, looking no older than eight years old, running back to his mother inside the Hammerstein.

Others couldn’t wait to see the young star do his thing onstage.

Chants of "Bow Wow, Bow Wow," went out around the venue a little after the scheduled performance time of 5 p.m. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to many, Bow Weezy (his new nickname), his mother, and his mentor Jermaine Dupri were running the gauntlet of press interviews in the VIP section.

The rapper said, "This is great," and "I’m just happy to be here," about the turnout while being dragged from one end of the room to the other promoting his album (see "Lil' Bow Wow Wants You To Take Him Home In A Doggy Bag"). Around 6 p.m., some kids caught wind of the proceedings in the VIP room and huddled around the door, causing Bow Wow to make a swift exit through a side entrance to the stage.

After his intro to the album, "We Want Weezy," played and faded out, J.D. walked on, asking, "Who’d y’all come to see?"

Being beckoned with more chants of "Bow Wow," the main attraction stepped on to the sounds of Doggy Bag’s "Get Up." "All they do is skip skip when the beat comes on," he rhymed with the crowd rocking. At the track's ending, Dupri told everyone to hold up all their posters and albums, and Bow Wow segued into "Thank You."

"Y’all still got a little time to still make it to the stores," he told the crowd, urging whoever didn’t have the new record to go cop it. When the bass dropped at the beginning of the next number, "Take Ya Home," Bow garnered cries of "Go Bow Wow" while he did a 30- second exhibition of the Harlem Shake.

Then the kid who’s "Not trying to go out like Todd Bridges on ‘Different Strokes’ " took it easy with his finale, "Bow Wow (That’s My Name)" from his last album, 2000's Beware of Dog, letting the excited crowd rhyme most of the first verse.

"Hair nappy but I'm happy/ Pocket full of doe/ From the C-O representin' So So," said the unified front as they bounced. As the song ended, Bow showed off his happy feet again with a version of the Crip-walk.

In the next few weeks, Bow Wow will head to Los Angeles to shoot his first Hollywood starring role in next summer’s "Like Mike" (see "Lil' Bow Wow Mulls Being 'Like Mike'"), where he plays a kid who has skills in basketball parallel to Michael Jordan’s when he puts on a pair of magic sneakers. In March, he’ll pop up in Ice Cube’s "All About the Benjamins" in a cameo role.

2002 will also see the launch of Bow Wow’s clothing line, Lil’ Bow Wear, which is geared to "the ladies," according to the rapper.