Too Short

Too Short

Todd Anthony Shaw (born April 28 1966 in Los Angeles, California), better known by his stage name Too $hort, is an American rapper who started his career at the age of fourteen in Oakland, California.

Biography

Born in South Los Angeles; raised in Oakland, California during his teenage years. In the early 1980s, $hort produced custom raps (called "special requests") for people with his high school friend, Freddy B. In 1983, Too $hort released his first album, Don't Stop Rappin', on the local label 75 Girls. This and his next three releases had raw and simple drum beats using a LinnDrum drum machine in the early 1980s, switching to mostly the TR-808 and TR-909 by the mid-to-late 1980s. With his 1988 release, Life Is...Too $hort, he began infusing replayed established funk riffs (rather than samples) with his beats. In 1986, Too $hort and Freddie B. founded the Dangerous Music record label to distribute his music regionally. Dangerous Music has since changed names to $hort Records, and now Up All Nite. He first developed a noticeable fan base with the album Life Is...Too $hort in 1989, which started a string of platinum albums.

Too $hort's songs are principally recognizable for their emphasis on Pimpin' and related sexually charged topics. With the rise of gangsta rap in the late 1980's/early 1990's, his style found a natural place in mainstream rap. Not surprisingly, Too $hort's popularity peaked in the 1990's with Short Dog's in the House in 1990 and Shorty the Pimp in 1992. The latter included classics such as "No Love From Oakland" "Hoes," and "Step Daddy," all of which deal with his exploits as a pimp, and playing hoes. While macking hoes was a common topic in other gangsta type rap of the time, including the popular rap put out by Death Row records, it should be noted that Too $hort was never really a gangsta rapper. His work chronologically straddled the rise and decline of gangsta rap, and never really dealt with guns, killing, drugs, or gangs, and very rarely used the word "Nigga," but rather focused on the life of a pimp, and getting laid. Indeed, often his lyrics criticize crack cocaine users.

Subsequent work including Get in Where You Fit in 1993, and Cocktails 1995, dealt with similar issues. He retired from full time solo rap with the 1996 release of Gettin' It.

Subsequent work was primarily collaborative including work with Diddy, The Notorious B.I.G., Scarface, UGK, Jay-Z, and Snoop Dogg just to name a few. He appeared TWDY's hit single "Player's Holiday" from their 1999 debut album Derty Werk as well as the Priority Records compilation Nuthin But a Gangsta Party. After the appearances, he began working on his eleventh album, Can't Stay Away. The album included guest appearances by 8Ball & MJG, Jay-Z, Jermaine Dupri, Sean Combs, E-40, Daz Dillinger, Lil' Jon, Soopafly, Scarface and B-Legit as well as recognized verses by $hort himself. When he relocated to Atlanta in 2003, he began working with a more diverse variety of artists including Lil Jon. In 2004,The Ghetto appeared on popular videogame Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, playing on West Coast hip hop radio station Radio Los Santos. He is also one of the only rappers in the industry to collaborate with The Notorious B.I.G, 2Pac, Mac Dre, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Eazy-E, and Pimp C before they died.

Influence

Although he isn't usually considered a pure gangsta rapper, because the topics covered were almost solely about sex and rarely touched on other aspects of the "gangsta" lifestyle, Too $hort nonetheless had influence in early and modern gangsta rap. Too $hort's songs had a great influence on Ice Cube's (rapper and songwriter for N.W.A) early writing. . Since his relocation to Atlanta, he also has worked with a variety of snap and crunk artists. Too $hort has influenced many rappers who claim themselves as a pimp such as Snoop Dogg. $hort was the first rapper in the West Coast and his early music sparked a major influence to many rappers in the past and today, including The Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z, Nelly, 2Pac, Ice Cube, E-40, Mack 10, WC, Snoop Dogg, Diddy, UGK, Ludacris, Spice 1, Scarface, T.I., Lupe Fiasco and countless others. While most older rappers from the late 80s/early 90s (the so-called Golden age of hip hop) have criticized those genres for their lack of lyrical complexity or content, Too $hort has been one of the few who were active in that time to embrace the new styles. . His flamboyant use of the word "Bitch" (pronounced as BeeITCH or Bi-ehtch) that he has used since "Don't Fight the Feeling" has been picked up and emulated by various other rappers (and popularized in the mainstream by Snoop Doggy Dogg) and was turned into a popular slang vernacular used in other mediums, such as radio, television, and movies.

Up All Nite Records

Too $hort runs his own record label, Up All Nite Records. Artists on the label include The Pack, best known for their singles, "I'm Shinin", "Vans" and "In My Car", as well as Dolla Will, and Boo Ski.

Too $hort in film

Too $hort played the role of Lew-Loc in the critically acclaimed hood classic "Menace II Society."

Too $hort has also moonlighted in the adult film industry, with the 2003 film Get In Where You Fit In.

Finally, Short appeared in the 1999 Hughes Brothers' documentary about Pimps titled "American Pimp." It is notable that he was the only person interviewed about pimping who was not a current or previous full time pimp, a testament to his contribution to the Pimp culture.

Discography

Main article: Too $hort discography

• 1983: Don't Stop Rappin'
• 1985: Players
• 1987: Raw, Uncut, and X-Rated
• 1988: Born to Mack
• 1988: Life Is...Too $hort
• 1990: Short Dog's In The House
• 1992: Shorty The Pimp
• 1993: Get In Where You Fit In
• 1993: Greatest Hits, Vol. 1: The Player Years, 1983-1988
• 1995: Cocktails
• 1996: Gettin' It (Album Number Ten)
• 1999: Can't Stay Away
• 2000: You Nasty
• 2001: Chase the Cat
• 2002: What's My Favorite Word?
• 2003: Married to the Game
• 2006: Blow the Whistle
• 2007: Bible of a Pimp
• 2007: Get Off The Stage

External links

• Too $hort site by record label Jive Records (requires Flash)
• Too $hort official MySpace page