Too Short

Todd Anthony Shaw better known by the stage name Too Short (stylized as Too $hort), is an American rapper and record producer. Shaw became famous in the West Coast hip hop scene in the late 1980s, with lyrics often based on pimping and promiscuity, but also drug culture and street survival. The latter in songs such as "The Ghetto," and the former in songs such as "Blow the Whistle".

A pioneer of West Coast rap, Too Short began recording in 1983, cultivating a large following in his native Oakland. In 1987, his fourth album "Born to Mack" attracted the attention of Jive Records, who signed him and distributed the album nationally. His subsequent 1988 album "Life Is...Too Short" was highly successful, going double platinum, and he remained prominent into the 1990s.

Subsequent work was primarily collaborative, including work with Tupac Shakur, The Notorious B.I.G., Scarface, and Pimp C. One of his notable collaborations during this period was on the track "The World Is Filled..." on the Notorious B.I.G. album "Life After Death;" he comes in on the third verse after Diddy and Biggie. Being featured on the album introduced him to a wider audience as well, due to his typical style contrasting greatly with the Mafioso theme of the album. He also appeared on 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 these 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.

New albums released 2000-2003 were "You Nasty" (2000), "Chase the Cat" (2001), "What's My Favorite Word?" (2002), and "Married to the Game" (2003). These albums all charted fairly well, as they all were in the top 71 of the Billboard 200, but they did not do as well as Too Short's earlier 1990s releases, as none of them reached the top 10.

For his next album, "Blow the Whistle" (2006), Too Short now took advantage of the new hyphy rap music that was emerging out of his original home base in Oakland. This saw somewhat of a resurgence for Too Short as it peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard 200, much better than each of his previous three releases. However, his subsequent releases, such as 2007's "Get Off the Stage," have not been as successful. On October 7, 2008 Too Short was honored by VH1 at the fifth annual "Hip-Hop Honors" along with Cypress Hill, De La Soul, Slick Rick and Naughty By Nature.

In 2009, Too Short recorded for Daz Dillinger, Lil Jon, Soopafly, Scarface and B-Legit. In 2011, the rapper was featured on Wiz Khalifa's song "On My Level". He also collaborated in Snoop Dogg's 2011 album, "Doggumentary" in the song "Take U Home" and on the 50 Cent song "First Date". In 2012 Too Short along with E-40 released two collaboration albums on the same day titled "History: Mob Music" and "History: Function Music." Both charted in the top 100 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.

In 2013, it was announced he would collaborate with Lady Gaga on a song "Jewels n' Drugs" for her upcoming album "Artpop." Also featured on the song are T.I. and Twista.

In 2015, Too Short was featured on actor Tavion Tate Guice's song "Oakland Brookfield Dance".

In 2016, Too Short was featured on the song "Cochino" by Argentine-American rapper Dumbfoundead. The song is the seventh track off of Dumbfoundead's fifth studio album "We Might Die."

Six years after his last release, Too Short released his 20th album "The Pimp Tape" on November 9, 2018. On December 20, 2019 he released his 21st album "The Vault." On December 18, 2020 Too Short and E-40 released their collaboration album "Ain't Gone Do It and Terms & Conditions."