Todd Anthony Shaw (born April 28, 1966), better known by his
stage name Too $hort, is an
American rapper who started his career at the age of fourteen in
Oakland,
California.
[Bush, John. Too Short - Biography. Allmusic. Last accessed Sept. 16, 2007.]
Biography
Shaw was born in
South Los Angeles,
California, and raised in
East Oakland, California during his teenage years. In the early 1980s, Short produced custom raps (called "special requests") for people with his high school friend, Freddy B. In 1983, Too Short released his first album,
Don't Stop Rappin', on the local label 75 Girls.
This and his next three releases featured raw, 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. In 1986, Too Short and Freddie B. founded the Dangerous Music record label to distribute his music regionally.
Dangerous Music later changed names to Short Records, and then Up All Nite Records. With his 1988 release,
Life Is...Too Short, he began infusing replayed established
funk riffs (rather than samples) with his beats. It was then that he began to develop a noticeable fan base and a string of platinum albums.
Too Short's songs are principally recognizable for their emphasis on Pimpin' and related sexually charged topics. With the rise of gangsta rap in the late 1980s/early 1990s, his style found a natural place in mainstream rap. Too Short's popularity peaked in the 1990s with
Short Dog's in the House in 1990 and
Shorty the Pimp in 1992. The latter included songs such as "No Love from Oakland", "Hoes," and "Step Daddy," all of which deal with his exploits as a pimp. While "macking hoes" was a common topic in other gangsta rap of the time, particularly the popular rap put out by
Death Row Records, it should be noted that Too Short lacked certain thematic elements associated with the genre. His work chronologically straddled the rise and decline of gangsta rap, and never really dealt with guns, killing, drugs, or gangs, but rather focused on the lifestyle of a pimp, the music industry, and sex. His music style is unique in the fact of using real drums and bass on most of his songs. Something that is rarely done in the mainstream rap industry.
