Too short

Too Short 2008 in San Francisco

Too Short (* 28. April 1966 in Oakland , California as Todd Anthony Shaw ), also hort Too $ written, is an American rapper . He is one of the pioneers of West Coast hip-hop , made a significant contribution to establishing the pimp culture in the scene and is one of the few artists who managed to produce six albums in a row that achieved platinum status.

Life

Too Short moved from Oakland to Atlanta in 1994 but still represents its Northern California origins. He started rapping on simple drum beats, was a prominent exponent of G-Funk , the typical Bay Area hip-hop style, and his latest releases have made him part of the crunk scene. He has released a total of 19 albums so far, twelve of which have found national or international distribution. Through his numerous collaborations and a total of 60 guest appearances on other albums, he probably had more appearances on top albums in the charts than any other rapper.

In the early 1980s, Too Short and his friend Freddie B. produced personal rap pieces for classmates. For a cost of typically $ 10, they made a 30-minute tape glorifying the person who paid. Also in high school, he played percussion in his school's marching band .

As one of the first hip-hop musicians, Too Short began to produce and sell records independently without working with major labels. He set the stage for the independent hip hop scene in Northern California when his example inspired many others to follow suit.

At the same time he began to break new ground in terms of style. In contrast to East Coast hip-hop , which works heavily with samples and loops , Shorts' first releases were raps over a simple and raw beat. By 1989, when Life Is ... Too Short was released , funk and blues elements began to appear, which found their way into his music through synthesizers and drum machines. This led to the Bay Area hip-hop style known as mobb music .

During this time he worked with his close friends Ice Cube and producer Ant Banks , among others . In 1987 he signed a contract with Jive Records . A total of eleven albums were released there, which were distributed at least across the US: Born to Mack (1987), Life Is… Too $ hort (1989), $ hort Dog's in the House (1990), $ horty the Pimp (1992), Get In Where You Fit In (1993), Cocktails (1994), Gettin It (1996), Can't Stay Away (1999), You Nasty (2000), Chase the Cat (2001), Married to the Game (2003) and Blow the Whistle (2006).

Shorts best known track is The Ghetto from his 1990 album. Other well-known tracks are Ain't No Bitches , Money in the Ghetto , I Want to Be Free , Gettin 'It , I'm a Player , You Nasty , I Luv , Just Another Day , Good Life , Invasion of the Flat Booty Bitches , Don't Stop Rappin , Freaky Tales and Cocktails .

Short moved to Atlanta in 1994 and began working with other artists such as Twista and Lil Jon .

1996 Too Short announced his resignation, but returned in 1999 with a guest appearance in the hit player's Holiday of TWDY back. His next album was called Can't Stay Away . In addition to Too Short, Eightball & MJG , Puff Daddy , E-40 , Daz Dillinger , Kurupt , Soopafly and B-Legit appeared on it.

In addition to his appearances as a rapper, Too Short also had a small role in the classic ghetto movie Menace II Society and has also produced three porn films.

Discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)	Remarks
		US
1987	Born to Mack	US- gold US	Initial publication: July 20, 1987 US sales: 500,000+
1989	Life Is ... Too Short	US37 × 2 Double platinum (78 weeks)US	First published: Jan 31, 1989 US sales: 2,000,000+
1990	Short Dog's in the House	US20th platinum (53 weeks)US	First published: August 1, 1990 US sales: 1,000,000+
1992	Shorty the Pimp	US6th platinum (21 weeks)US	Initial Publication: July 14, 1992 Sales US: 1,000,000+
1993	Get in Where You Fit In	US4th platinum (33 weeks)US	First published: October 23, 1993 US sales: 1,000,000+
1995	Cocktails	US6th platinum (20 weeks)US	First published: Jan 24, 1995 US sales: 1,000,000+
1996	Gettin 'It (Album Number Ten)	US3 platinum (25 weeks)US	Initial Publication: May 21, 1996 US Sales: 1,000,000+
1999	Can't stay away	US5 gold (14 weeks)US	First published: July 13, 1999 US sales: 500,000+
2000	You nasty	US12 gold (9 weeks)US	Initial release: September 12, 2000 US sales: 500,000+
2001	Chase the Cat	US71 (3 weeks) US	First published: November 20, 2001
2002	What's My Favorite Word?	US38 (4 weeks) US	First published: September 10, 2002
2003	Married to the game	US49 (8 weeks) US	First published: October 23, 2003
2006	Pimpin 'Incorporated	US80 (2 weeks) US	First published: January 17, 2006
	Blow the whistle	US14 (6 weeks) US	First published: August 29, 2006
2007	Get off the stage	US160 (1 week) US	First published: December 4th, 2007
2010	Still Blowin '	-	First published: April 6, 2010
	Respect the pimpin '	-	First published: December 14, 2010
2012	No trespassing	US129 (1 week) US	First published: February 28, 2012

Collab albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)	Remarks
		US
2012	History: Mob Music	US71 (1 week) US	First published: November 6, 2012 with E-40
	History: Function Music	US62 (1 week) US	First published: November 6, 2012 with E-40

Compilation albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)	Remarks
		US
1993	Greatest hits	-	First published: November 10, 1993
1995	Don't Try This at Home	-	First published: November 21, 1995
1998	Nationwide: Independence Day	US73 (8 weeks) US	First published: May 19, 1998
2006	The Mack of the Century	-	First published: November 28, 2006

EPs

• 1983: Don't Stop Rappin '
• 1985: Players
• 1986: Raw, Uncut and X-Rated
• 2014: 19,999: The EP

Singles with chart positions

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)	Remarks
		US
1990	The Ghetto Short Dog's in the House	US42 (14 weeks) US
1993	I'm a Player Get in Where You Fit In	US85 (3 weeks) US
1994	Money in the Ghetto Get in Where You Fit In	US90 (3 weeks) US
1995	Cocktales cocktails	US69 (9 weeks) US
1996	Gettin 'It Gettin' It (Album Number Ten)	US68 (10 weeks) US	feat. Parliament-Funkadelic
1997	Call Me Booty Call - Soundtrack	US90 (3 weeks) US	feat. Lil 'Kim
1998	Invasion of the Flat Booty Bitches Can't Stay Away	US51 (10 weeks) US
2003	Shake That Monkey Married to the Game	US84 (20 weeks) US	feat. Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz

Singles as guest musicians

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1999	Player's Holiday Derty factory	-	-	-	-	US90 (16 weeks) US	TWDY feat. Too short
2006	Bossy Kelis Was Here	DE64 (4 weeks) DE	AT56 (3 weeks) AT	CH41 (5 weeks) CH	UK22 (5 weeks) UK	US16 × 2 Double platinum (20 weeks)US	Kelis feat. Too Short Sales US: 2,000,000+
2011	On My Level Rolling Papers	-	-	-	-	US52 gold (9 weeks)US	Wiz Khalifa feat. Too Short Sales US: 500,000+
2013	Loyal X	DE54 (7 weeks) DE	AT61 (1 week) AT	-	UK10 gold (38 weeks)UK	US9 × 4 Quadruple platinum (36 weeks)US	Chris Brown feat. Lil Wayne and French Montana / Too Short / Tyga

Awards for music sales

Note: Awards in countries from the chart tables or chart boxes can be found in these.

Country / Region	gold	platinum	Sales	swell
Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources)
United States (RIAA)	4 × gold4th	13 × platinum13	15,000,000	riaa.com
United Kingdom (BPI)	gold1	-	400,000	bpi.co.uk
All in all	5 × gold5	13 × platinum13

Web links

• Too $ hort at Discogs (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ RIAA - Searchable Database: Too Short Database of the Recording Industry Association of America at riaa.com, accessed July 25, 2015
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Chart positions: DE AT CH UK US