Too $hort Bio: The Rise of a West Coast Legend

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Colin Mahar

Colin is a content creator based out of New York City. Colin loves rap music because it brings together various things that he enjoys, like art, fashion, and film. He spends his time writing and producing music when he's not working. He's eager to share with you his first hand experiences in the industry.

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Introduction

Too $hort is one of the Godfathers of West Coast hip-hop and one of the most controversial rappers of all time. His lyrics about pimps, drug dealers, and the street culture of California helped create a cult-like following and laid the foundations for the emergence of West Coast gangsta rap. But it also attracted tons of scrutiny from the media and conservative organizations.

Two $hort has had a long and fruitful career that has produced a catalog of over 20 studio albums. My favorite Too $hort project has to be Life is… Too $hort, but he has so much great music that it’s hard to choose. He’s been active in the rap game for almost 30 years and continues to drop music to please his fans. Here’s a look at the life and career of Too $hort, a West Coast legend. 

Too $hort Birthplace

Too $hort was born in Los Angeles, California, on April 28th, 1966, although his family later moved to Oakland in the 1980s.

Too $hort Parents

Too $hort is the son of Anthony and Dorothy Shaw. A stark contrast to the street character he created in his music, Too $hort grew up in a solid, middle-class household. Both his parents were accountants, and his mother worked for the IRS for 30 years.

Despite his controversial attitudes toward women, he always had a strong relationship with his mother. However, he has admitted that she sometimes gets on his case about the language he uses in his music.

“I get really uncomfortable when I know my mother’s in the crowd,” he told Laura Jamison from Vibe magazine, “She’ll come to me after and say,’ You got a foul mouth.'”

Too $hort built a house for his mother in Atlanta in the mid-’90s after she retired from the IRS. The rapper took to Twitter to announce his mother’s passing in 2016. 

Too $hort Early Life

Two $hort grew up in South Central Los Angeles but later moved to Oakland, California with his family. There, he became more immersed in the street culture of the Bay, including the pimp game, which became a frequent subject of his music. He attended Freemont High School in Oakland, where he was the drummer in the school band.

He started rapping at age 14 and would sell his homemade tapes out of the trunk of his car with the help of his friend Fred Benz. That helped him gain a solid local fanbase, and after three years of independent hustling, he signed to the record label 75 Girls and began work on his first official project.

Too $hort Professional Life

Too $hort released his debut album Don’t Stop Rappin’ in 1985 on 75 Girls, which helped him build a local buzz in Oakland. He also followed up with the albums Players and Raw, Uncut, and X-Rated over the next few years, which continued to build his local fanbase but failed to generate interest outside the Bay area.

Following the release of that project, he began to hone his craft and taught himself to make beats. He also formed a group called the Too Dangerous Crew and founded his own label called Dangerous Music with his friend Freddy B.

His first release on Dangerous Music was Born to Mack, and he sold 50,000 copies right from the trunk of his career. The tape attracted interest from A&R at Jive Records, who would re-release the project the following year. Although the production was simplistic and stylistically repetitive, Too $hort’s personality and lyrical ability are on full display, showing label execs that he had potential.

Soon after signing to Jive, he’d release his seminal project, Life…Too $hort. The album found Too $hort rapping his trademark sexually explicit lyrics over bassy beats full of 70’s funk grooves which helped elevate his sound. The production was of higher quality than his early albums, and he seemed to have refined his delivery. The subject matter attracted tons of controversy, but that only helped him sell more records. The album eventually went 2x platinum and is still his most successful project to date.

Life is… Too $hort is my favorite Too $hort album because it has an undeniable rawness and authenticity. While some of the messaging is clearly problematic, Too $hort always had a sincerity and a sense of humor that is undeniable, and his wit is on full display on this album.

The album’s success helped Too $hort build a nationwide fanbase, and he’d begin to collaborate with artists outside of the Bay area. Throughout the ’90s, he worked with hip-hop legends, including Biggie Smalls, 2pac, Ice Cube, Pimp C, and Scarface.

He would release the album $hort Dogg in the House in 1990, which contained the hit single, The Ghetto. Although the album featured many of the raunchy themes that made Too $hort famous, it also saw the artist experimenting with more socially conscious sounds. Too $hort produced many of the songs on the album himself using a Roland TR-808 drum machine and laid the foundation for the genre of G-Funk which Dr. Dre would later perfect.

$hort Dogg in the House is my second favorite Too $hort album and a fitting follow-up to Life is… Too $hort. It saw the Oakland MC growing as an artist and elevating his sound while staying true to his roots.

Over the next few years, Too $hort would release a string of commercially successful albums, including Shorty the Pimp and Get in Where You Fit in and Cocktails, which were all certified platinum. But by 1996, he was beginning to grow tired of the rap game and decided it was time to retire.

He took a three-year hiatus from music but eventually changed his mind and came out of retirement in 1999 with the album Can’t Stay Away. The project was a critical and commercial hit, becoming his fourth consecutive album to go platinum.

Throughout the early 2000’s he would continue to release music consistently and dropped four albums in four years, including You Nasty, Chase the Cat, What’s My Favorite Word? and Married to the Game.

Following another brief 3-year hiatus, Too $hort would return with one of the biggest hits of his career. He released the Lil Jon-produced track Blow the Whistle in 2006, which blew up and has since become known as his signature song. It’s his most popular track as of 2022 and helped expose the rapper to an entirely new audience. He also followed up with an album of the same name later the same year, which peaked at number 14 on Billboard and featured guest appearances from Snoop Dogg, the Black-Eyed Peas, Pimp C, Rick Ross, e-40, and more. The album also saw Too $hort taking inspiration from the growing hyphy sound emerging in his hometown of Oakland.

While not my favorite Too $hort project, Blow the Whistle is a solid album that proved he could continue to innovate and please his fans over 20 years into his career.

Too $hort would release one final album on Jive Records in 2010, Get Off the Stage. He would then go fully independent and continue releasing music on his Dangerous Music label.

Throughout the 2010’s he’s continued to release music, including projects like Still Blowin’, No Trespassing, and the Pimp Tape. He also released two collaborative albums with fellow Bay area legend E-40 in 2012 called History: Mobb Music and History: Function Music.

In 2019, he dropped his 21st studio album, the Vault. He also formed a supergroup with E-40, Snoop Dogg, and Ice Cube called Mount Westmore and released an album called Bad MFs in June 2022, which was available solely via blockchain. It will be released on streaming services later this year. So nearly 30 years into the game, Too $hort is still dropping consistently and continuing to innovate. 

Too $hort Video

Too $hort family

Too $hort has a brother named Wayne Loc. He also became a father for the first time at 53 years old, after his girlfriend gave birth to a daughter named Yani Shaw in December 2018.

The rapper spoke to TMZ about having a child later in life, telling them, “I can tell you that the reason why I didn’t have kids before now is because I didn’t want to be a father at the wrong time, I knew who I was, I knew what I was doing, and I was just enjoying my celebrity-hood.”

He also claimed to be working on a documentary with singer Ray-J and his manager Davis Weintraub about raising their kids in Hollywood, although it’s unclear if that project is still in the works. 

Too $hort Dating and Relationship History

Too $hort has been linked to several women throughout his career. At some point, he was linked to notorious video vixen Karrine Steffens, who’s also dated celebrities like Bobby Brown, Lil Wayne, and Soulja Boy. He was also in a relationship with a woman named Monica Payne.

In 2000, he married Erica Escarcega, and it’s believed they’ve been married ever since. However, it seems they are no longer together as Too $hort has a baby with another woman. However, there’s been no news of their divorce.

Too $hort Controversies and Scandals

Too $hort has faced frequent criticism from the media over his controversial lyrics that often involve sexually explicit content and misogynistic themes. He often raps from the perspective of a pimp, talking about his experiences on the streets of California. However, the rapper has always deflected the criticism and claims that Too $hort is only a character made up for entertainment purposes and isn’t meant to be taken seriously.

In 2018, Too $hort was sued for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman in a Los Angeles hotel room. The accuser claims she met the rapper for a business meeting but then forced himself on her multiple times at the hotel and later at a recording studio. Too $hort denied the claims and said their relationship was consensual. The charges were later dropped after the DA investigated the allegations and found there wasn’t enough evidence to prove she didn’t consent.

The rapper also recently faced backlash after making comments many found were colorist. During a video interview with rapper Saweetie, Too $hort said he liked biracial women and claimed that he had never fallen in love with a woman who isn’t mixed race. Some found his comments prejudicial to black women, and he later apologized, claiming he simply stated his preference and didn’t mean to be hurtful.

Too $hort Net Worth and Career Earnings

Too $hort has an estimated net worth of $15 million. The rapper has released 21 solo albums, many of which have been certified platinum, in addition to several collaborative albums. He also produces and does features for other artists, as well as touring and selling merch. Plus, he’s owned multiple record labels, Up All Nite and Dangerous Music, with his own roster of artists.

Too $hort Real Estate and Residence History

Too $hort owns a 4,951-square-foot home in a gated community in Atlanta, Georgia. The house has six bedrooms, five bedrooms, and a 3-car. He built the home in 2000 for $450,000 but currently has it on the market for $435,000.

Too $hort Famous Quotes

“The story I tell is so incomplete, five kids in the house and no food to eat.” – Too $hort

“Even though some people give you no respect, be intelligent when you put them in check, cause when you’re ignorant, you get treated that way.” – Too $hort

Too $hort Discography

• 1985 – Don’t Stop Rappin
• 1987 – Players
• 1987 – Raw, Uncut & X-Rated
• 1987 – 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
• 1995 – Cocktails 
• 1996 – Getting It (Album Number Ten)
• 1999 – Can’t Stay Away 
• 2000 -You Nasty 
• 2001 – Chasin the Cat
• 2002 – What’s My Favorite Word?
• 2003 – Married to the Game
• 2006 – Blow the Whistle
• 2007 – Get Off the Stage
• 2010 – Still Blowin’
• 2012 – No Trespassing
• 2018 – The Pimp Tape
• 2019 – The Vault
• Collaboration Albums
• 1988 – Dangerous Crew (with the Dangerous Crew)
• 1995 – Don’t Try This at Home (with the Dangerous Crew)
• 2012 – History: Mobb Music (with E-40)
• 2012 – History: Function Music (with E-40)
• 2020 – Ain’t Gonna Do It/Terms and Conditions (with E-40)
• 2022- Bad MFs (with Mount Westmore) 

FAQ

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Too_Short
• https://www.hiphopscriptures.com/too-short
• https://www.allmusic.com/artist/too-hort-mn0001052511/biography
• https://www.distractify.com/p/too-short-kids
• https://www.tmz.com/2019/10/01/too-short-explains-fatherhood-daughter-yanni/
• https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/music-popular-and-jazz-biographies/too-short
• https://www.therichest.com/celebnetworth/celeb/rappers/too-short-net-worth/
• https://www.urbansplatter.com/2022/09/too-short-house-los-angeles-estate/
• https://www.bet.com/article/ywa8al/too-short-is-accused-of-sodomizing-and-raping-a-woman#:~:text=Music-,Too%20Short%20Is%20Accused%20Of%20Sodomizing%20And%20Raping%20A%20Woman,and%20harassment%20among%20other%20charges.
• https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-08-30-ca-8260-story.html
• https://www.vibe.com/news/entertainment/too-short-apologizes-colorism-mixed-race-women-comments-1234632813/

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