Todd Anthony Shaw started rapping as a teenager in his homebase of Oakland California during the ’80’s. He met his rhyme partner Freddy B in highschool and together they sold customized rap tapes that Shaw would taylor to the instructions given by his customers. In ’83 he released his first album Dont’ Stop Rappin’ for a local label using stripped down beats from a drum machine. Three more albums came before he released Born To Mack on his own independent label Dangerous Music. The success of that album attracted a distribution deal with Jive records and a re-release of the record that went gold with very little promotion. It was Too Short’s sophomore album Life Is…Too Short that made the most progress on a national level thanks to the title song, “Don’t Fight The Feelin’,” “Cusswords” and his ability to project a suave
persona over funk grooves embedded with the ‘B’ word and comical street tales presaging Snoop by nine years. Too Short has recorded seventeen albums all of which have gone gold or platinum making him a legend in his native Oakland. Unlike many East coast rappers who love the art of the battling Too Short has said that he never engages in verbal combat because the goal of rapping is to earn a living. In his twenty something year career he has worked with numerous rappers but his collaboration with Biggie Smalls on “The World Is Filled…” took him to an even larger fanbase. Another east coast collaboration “Call Me” with Lil’ Kim also endeared him to younger fans. In 1996 he retired briefly after his tenth album Gettin’ It but by ’99 he was recording again with a southern influence since he had relocated to Atlanta. Get Off The Stage is his most recent album which was released in 2007 but most fans are still holding on to 2006’s Blow The Whistle. In 2007 he also appeared on the Kelis single “Bossy.” He also made a distinguished appearance on Snoop’s “Life Of Da Party” last year and was celebrated at VH-1’s Hip-Hop honors.
