Too Short | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Todd Anthony Shaw |
Also known as | Short Dogg |
Born | Los Angeles, California, U.S.[1][2] | April 28, 1966
Origin | Oakland, California, U.S.[1][2] |
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Years active | 1983–present[3] |
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Todd Anthony Shaw (born in Los Angeles, California: April 28, 1966), better known by the stage name Too Short, is an American rapper and record producer. He became famous for West Coast hip hop in the mid-to-late 1980s. His rap lyrics are usually about promiscuity (casual sex with several partners) and pimping.[4] They are also about street survival and drug cultures. The former is talked about in many dirty rap songs, for example, "Blow the Whistle" (2006). The latter is talked about in his political rap song from "The Ghetto" (1990).
Shaw's first studio album, Don't Stop Rappin', released in 1983, was one of the first rap albums that actually used the word bitch during certain songs on it.
Shaw began his career in 1983. He drew fame on the Oakland underground rap scene.[5] Shaw signed a major deal with Jive Records in 1987. Jive released Shaw's fourth album Born to Mack. The following year, his fifth album Life Is...Too Short became his best-selling studio rap album. He remained well known during the 1990s.