Bow Wow, Pretty Ricky, Omarion, Marques Houston, and more!
Additional reporting by hiphoprnbsoul.com



One of the hottest and most talked about tours has just kicked off in the U.S. All you need do is bring strong vocal chords and your loudest scream.

"BET Presents Scream Tour IV Festival: The Heart Throbs 2005" features 12-year veteran rapper Bow Wow, who, at the age of 18, is experiencing a career high as "Let Me Hold You" featuring Omarion is currently the No. 1 song on Billboard's Hot Rap Tracks chart. The tune is the lead single from his new set Wanted, which also bowed at No. 2 on the Top Rap Albums list.

Joining Bow Wow is fellow headliner Omarion, who'll be supporting his most release, O. Also along for the ride is O's half brother (and ex-IMX member) Marques Houston who'll be performing stuff from his latest set Naked, Disturbin' Tha Peace's Bobby Valentino (responsible for the hit "Slow Down"), Pretty Ricky (supporting their debut set Bluestars), and the newest flavor from Bad Boy, B5.

The Heart Throbs tour is the fourth installment in the Scream Tour Festival series. The cross-country jaunt started Wednesday (July 20) at Trenton, NJ's Sovereign Arena, and is scheduled to hit almost 30 U.S. cities before wrapping up at the Miami Arena on September 4.

Bow Wow and Omarion are basing a lot of their flow on the best aspects of the doomed Best Of Both Worlds tour which joined rap's Jay-Z with R&B's R. Kelly.

"I'm the best of my world in what I do, the genre of music," Bow told MTV. "O is the best as far as his genre. I feel like that, the fans feel the same way. It is the best of both worlds. That's why we decided to pay tribute to Hov and Kells. It makes sense. I did not change one line of Hov's lyrics. You'll get a kick out of it once you see it with the pyro and everything."

Along with the duo pairing up for the night's highlight, "Let Me Hold You," there is also a tribute to the late Luther Vandross, according to MTV.com.

Pretty Ricky - comprising brothers Pleasure, Slick 'Em, Baby Blue and Spectacular - is currently enjoying success with the single "Grind With Me" and its Top 10 position on Billboard's Hot Rap Tracks chart. The Miami-bred group has also been all over MTV, appearing on the network's Beachouse in Las Vegas and also guesting on TRL, Hits, and DFX.

B5, also brothers (Dustin, Kelly, Patrick, Carnell, and Bryan Breeding), combine the old school vibe of the Jackson Five, with the contemporary pop vibe of *NSYNC. The Atlanta-based siblings' self-titled Bad Boy debut dropped July 19 and features the current hit "U Got Me."

"The Heart Throbs Tour 2005" itinerary is as follows:

JULY
20 Trenton, NJ - Sovereign Arena
21 Bridgeport, CT - Arena at Harbor Yard
23 Hampton, VA - Hampton Coliseum
24 Baltimore, MD - 1st Mariner Arena
27 Cleveland, OH - Wolstein Center @ CSU
28 Columbus, OH - Value City Arena
29 Detroit, MI - Cobo Arena
30 Chicago, IL - University of Illinois, Chicago
31 St. Louis, MO - Savvis Center

AUGUST
4 Universal City, CA - Gibson Amphitheatre
6 Oakland, CA - Oakland Coliseum
8 Denver, CO - Coors Amphitheatre
10 Kansas City, MO - Kemper Arena
12 Houston, TX - Toyota Center
13 New Orleans, LA - New Orleans Arena
14 Grand Prairie, TX - Nokia Theatre
17 Greenville, SC - Bi-Lo Center
18 Nashville, TN - Gaylord Entertainment Center
19 Birmingham, AL -BJCC Arena
20 Memphis, TN - FedEx Forum
21 Atlanta, GA - Philips Arena
24 New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
25 Philadelphia, PA - Liacouras Center
26 Washington, DC - MCI Center
27 Greensboro, NC - Greensboro Coliseum

SEPTEMBER
1 Jacksonville, FL - Memorial Coliseum
2 Tampa, FL - St. Pete Times Forum
3 Orlando, FL - TBA
4 Miami, FL - Miami Arena