MCMIXXXIV: Too Short. Hip Hop Honor Honeree!!!!

So i was reading a blog over the weekend and they were talking about the hip hop honor thing on VH1 that comes on tonight and the author of the blog said "too short is OG but he does not deserve a hip hop honor award. i say fuck that too short is the shit. check the longest resume in the game BBIIIAAAATTCCHH!!!
Todd Anthony Shaw (born April 28, 1966), better known by his stage name Too Short (seen on album covers as Too $hort), is an American rapper who started his career at the age of fourteen in Oakland, California.
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.[1] 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.[1] 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.

Subsequent work including Get in Where You Fit In (1993), and Cocktails (1995), dealt with similar issues. He retired from full-time solo rap with the 1996 release of Gettin' It.[1]

Subsequent work was primarily collaborative, including work with Diddy, The Notorious B.I.G., Scarface, UGK, Jay-Z, and Snoop Dogg. He appeared TWDY's hit single "Player's Holiday" from their 1999 debut album Derty Werk[2] as well as the Priority Records compilation Nuthin but a Gangsta Party.[3] 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.[4] Too Short relocated to Atlanta in 1994, but he really didn't begin working with a more diverse variety of southern artists until 2000 including Lil Jon. Once 1999's Can't Stay Away was released, Too Short fully came out of retirement and released a number of new albums within the next few years, most of them taking on a crunk or Dirty South type sound, as he had become involved in the Southern Rap scene. However, he didn't totally give up on his trademark funk grooves or sexually explicit style. 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 Hot 200, but they didn't do quite as well as Too Short's earlier 1990s releases as none of them reached the top 10. [5].

In 2004, his earlier 1990 single "The Ghetto" appeared on popular videogame Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, playing on West Coast hip hop radio station Radio Los Santos.

For his next album, 2006's Blow the Whistle, Too Short now took advantage of the new hyphy rap music that was emerging out of his original home base in Oakland, CA. This saw somewhat of a resurgence for Too Short as it peaked at #14 on the Billboard Hot 200, much better than each of his previous three releases. [5]. However, his subsequent releases, such as 2007's Get Off the Stage, have not been as successful.

On October 7, 2008 Too $hort will be honored by VH1 at the fifth annual "Hip-Hop Honors" along with Cypress Hill, De La Soul, Slick Rick and Naughty By Nature.[citation needed]

[edit] Influence
Although he is not usually considered a true gangsta rapper because the topics covered were almost solely about sex and rarely touched on other aspects of the "gangsta" lifestyle, Too Short nonetheless had influence in early and modern gangsta rap. Too Short's songs had a great influence on Ice Cube's (rapper and songwriter for N.W.A) early writing. [6] Following his relocation to Atlanta, he worked with a variety of snap and crunk artists. While most older rappers from the late 1980s-early 1990s (the so-called Golden age of hip hop) have criticized those genres for their lack of lyrical complexity or content, Too Short has been one of the few active in that time to embrace the new styles.[7] Because of Too Short's normal rap topic of pimpin', he isn't credited with making uplifting, positive and political songs. However, he has made several songs encouraging people to survive, stop drug use, not to be a gangster and get money. Such songs include famous hits, "The Ghetto" and "Gettin' It".

Too Short has influenced many rappers who claim themselves as a pimp such as Snoop Dogg. His flamboyant use of the word "Bitch" (pronounced as BeeITCH or Biatch) that he has used since the Born to Mack album has been picked up and emulated by various other rappers (and popularized in the mainstream by Snoop Dogg) and was turned into a popular slang vernacular used in other mediums, such as radio, television, and movies. Other artists have gained much influence from his lyrics which include E-40, Rappin' 4-Tay, Mac Mall, Lupe Fiasco, The Dogg Pound, Lil Wayne, MC Eiht, Spice 1, Eminem, Young Buck, Turf Talk, 50 Cent, UGK, T.I., Dem Hoodstarz, The Pack, The Luniz, Richie Rich, Ludacris, and among countless others. For his last albums Too $hort collaborated with many Southern Rap artists, included Lil' Jon. That gave a new Dirty South and Crunk sound to his works.

[edit] Up All Nite Records
Too Short runs his own record label—Up All Nite Records. Artists on the label include The Pack,[8] Dolla Will, Boo Ski, and Li'l J & Boi Payton, FX.

Equipment from his recording studio was seized by Alameda County, California authorities in July 2008 after Too Short failed to pay $1.1 million after an automobile accident. Too Short was uninsured and legally drunk in the head-on collision that killed one man and seriously injured another.[9]

[edit] Too Short in film
Too Short played the role of Lew-Loc in the film Menace II Society.

Too Short has also worked in the adult film industry, with the 2003 film Get In Where You Fit In.[10]

Along with Snoop Dogg, Short was one of the only interviewees in American Pimp who were not current or previous full-time pimps, a testament to his contribution to the Pimp culture.

[edit] Discography
Main article: Too Short discography
1983: Don't Stop Rappin'
1985: Players
1987: Raw, Uncut, and X-Rated
1988: Born to Mack
1988: Life Is...Too Short
1990: Short Dog's in the House
1992: Shorty the Pimp
1993: Get in Where You Fit In
1993: Greatest Hits, Vol. 1: The Player Years, 1983-1988
1995: Cocktails
1996: Gettin' It
1999: Can't Stay Away
2000: You Nasty
2001: Chase the Cat
2002: What's My Favorite Word?
2003: Married to the Game
2006: Blow the Whistle
2006: Mack of the Century...Greatest Hits
2007: Get Off the Stage
got Dam,n that a long resume

Too short was never on no MTV has been in the game for 20+ years. he was around before NWA before EPMD before de la Soul before most big daddy Kane before MC Hammer before everyone and he is still making relavent music to this day. he is the only rapper besides jay-z to sell 6 platitinum records in a row. in a row. and those six platinum albums were the ones he made in the 90's. he is bigger than ever in ATL and the bay area and he isnt even selling as much records as he used to. he is truely one of th greatest rappers of all time. and who the fuck doesnt love dope fiend beat and freaky talwes. motherfuckin classics
heres some videos
Life is.....