Too Short - Oakland

Too Short ²

West Coast rapper Too Short (April 28, 1966) began his career in East Oakland at the age of fourteen. Todd Anthony Shaw (aka Too Short, or stylized as Too $hort) was born and grew up in South Central Los Angeles, then moved with his family to Oakland in the early 1980s. He attended Fremont High School, where he played the drums.

In December 2022, part of Foothill Boulevard between High Street and 47th Avenue near Fremont High School was renamed "Too $hort Way" in his honor. ³

Too Short released his first album Don't Stop Rappin' in 1983. After releasing three more albums under the 75 Girls record label, Too Short established his own record label Dangerous Music. Born to Mack was released in 1986 and sold 50,000 albums just by Too Short promoting it on his own. Jive Records in New York sign him to a national deal for the promotion of Born to Mack which went gold, selling over 500,000 albums.

Too Short's next album, Life Is...Too Short went platinum (selling 1,000,000 albums) in 1989. The tremendous success of Life Is...Too Short led to the single The Ghetto, from the 1990 album Short Dog's in the House, hitting #12 on the R&B charts. Shorty the Pimp, released in 1992 and Get in Where You Fit In released in 1993 both went platinum.

Too Short continued producing albums in Oakland until 1994 when he relocated to Atlanta, Georgia.

Too Short, E-40 and Yukmouth, came together with Zar The Dip on a dedication song to Oakland ¹Too Short's Life Is...Too Short