Cocktails

Performer: Too $hort
Artist: Ant Banks; The Dangerous Crew; 2Pac; MC Breed; Father Dom; Old School Freddy B; Malik; Jamal; Baby O
Distributor: BMG (distributor)

Notes: Personnel: Too Short (vocals); Tempest (background vocals). Producers include: The Dangerous Crew, Shorty B, Ant Banks, Pee Wee, Spearhead X, Too Short. Engineers: Ant Banks, Spearhead X, Too Short. All songs written or co-written by Too Short except "Top Down" (Ant Banks/M. Miller). Includes samples from "Disco To Go - 1" (as performed by Brides Of Funkenstein) and "Funky Worm" (G. Webster/M. Pierce/N. Napier/A. Nolan/L. Bonner/M. Jones/R. Middlebrook/W. Morrison). Still spicing up the Oakland scene, Too Short returns to the charts with his ninth album, COCKTAILS, citing that little has changed in the business...the music business, that is. While many rappers gain their respect by kicking verses off their tongue at a delirious pace, Too Short uses his well-developed pimp style to emphasize his slow rhyming flow. "Ain't Nothing Like Pimpin'" opens the album with Short Dog's (a self-imposed nickname) definition of values. Shocking to those who aren't able to relate to the inner city mind-set, Too Short is unrepentant and unafraid to let everyone in on his desires. When it comes to rhyming skills, Short is straight up without any complexity (a compliment); yet when telling "Cocktales" and other dirty raps, he is still an integral part of the hip-hop "Game." On "Paystyle," the multi-platinum poppa of all rap's mack daddies chastises phony MCs who feed on the characteristics of others. The album's funky bass tracks can be attributed to Ant Banks, who gets full production credit on such booty-shaking tracks as "Can I Get A ****," "Giving Up The Funk," and "Top Down." But the album's star-studded centerpiece is "We Do This," which invites 2 Pac, MC Breed and Father Dom to experience Too Short's pandering lifestyle, and enjoy some COCKTAILS with him.

Vibe (2/95, pp.83-84) - "...Short values easy rhymes, phat bass, and explicit sex....You can see Short's influence...in the street-level successes of Bay Area MCs and producers...in the way [rappers] pay tributes to the idiosyncracies of their 'hoods...and in the way folks like KRS-One and the Fugees have to remind everyone...where hip-hop originated."

Oakland, California's original hip-hop export, Too Short was also one of the very first West Coast MCs, having started self-releasing records as early as 1983. Too Short is very much a prototype of the hustla/pimp/playa figure that has virtually come to define commercial rap in the new millennium. His career spanned more than three decades, and while he never achieved the enormous crossover success of heavyweights like 50 Cent and Snoop Dog, Too Short--who is an extremely respected rapper amongst students of the game--most certainly got paid. He released his 16th album, BLOW THE WHISTLE, in 2006.

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