Too $hort

Too Short
Too $hort at Martin Luther's Rebel Soul Fest at DNA Lounge in San Francisco, July 2008
Background information
Birth name	Todd Anthony Shaw
Born	(1966-04-28) April 28, 1966 (age 50) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Origin	East Oakland, Oakland, California, U.S.
Genres	Hip hop west coast hip hop
Occupation(s)	Rapper actor record producer
Years active	1982–present
Labels	Jive Up All Nite
Associated acts	Wiz Khalifa E-40 2Pac Ant Banks Rappin' 4-Tay Lil Jon Spice 1 Snoop Dogg Pimp C UGK Mistah F.A.B. Sons of Funk Mac Dre 8Ball & MJG 50 Cent The Notorious B.I.G. T.I. Jay-Z G-Eazy Dirt Nasty

Todd Anthony Shaw (born April 28, 1966), better known by the stage name Too Short (stylized as Too $hort), is an American rapper, producer, and actor. He is best known for his hit songs like "The Ghetto" and "Blow the Whistle". Too Short is one of the very few musicians to have been able to collaborate with both 2Pac and The Notorious B.I.G. during the height of their careers.

Too Short is credited as being one of the pioneer rappers of West Coast hip hop. His rap lyrics are primarily about pimping, drug use, and promiscuity.

Shaw was born and grew up in South Central Los Angeles, California. In the early 1980s, Shaw and his family moved to Oakland, California. He was a drummer in the band at Fremont High School in Oakland. In the mid 1980s, Shaw produced custom songs (called "special requests") for people with his high school friend, Freddy B. In 1985, Too Short had his first release, Don't Stop Rappin' which, along with the following three releases, featured raw, simple drum beats from a LinnDrum drum machine. This was also one of the first hip hop records to use the word "bitch" - a word which became one of the rapper's trademarks and was the focus of subsequent raps such as Ain't nothing but a word to me.

In the early 1990s his beats came from mostly a TR-808 and from mid-to-late 2000s, a TR-909 was used. In 1985, Too Short and Freddie B. formed the label Dangerous Music to regionally distribute his music and with others formed rap group The Dangerous Crew. Dangerous Music became Short Records, and then Up All Nite Records. With his 1989 release, Life Is...Too Short, he began using replayed established funk riffs (rather than samples) with his beats.