Happy 30th Anniversary to Too $hort’s tenth studio album Gettin’ It (Album Number Ten), originally released May 21, 1996.
“This might be the last album I make, y'all, so I figured like this: why should I go out like a sucker?”
So says Todd “Too $hort” Shaw, at the beginning of “So Watcha Sayin’,” one of the closing tracks on Gettin’ It (Album Number Ten). When it was released 30 years ago, it was one of the first hip-hop albums of its kind: a retirement album.
After doing his thing for close to an hour, Too $hort decides to end things by spending a little under three minutes talking his shit. “Even though, throughout my entire career I always spoke my mind about what was going on with my folks and my community,” he muses, “all I ever got credit for was saying one motherfucking word.”
That word, of course, is “bitch.” And one of his lasting legacies was the way that he pronounced it. “You got all these rappers out here on the mic, on their records, saying ‘bee-yotch!’ just like Short Dawg,” he explains. And in 1996, it seemed like a legacy that Too $hort was satisfied with.
Three decades ago, there was no conception of how long a hip-hop career could and should last. Rappers had fallen off and stopped releasing music because of lack of demand, but the idea that a rapper could reach a point where they would decide it was time to hang up the mic was unexplored territory. And here was Too $hort, deciding it was time to ride his drop-top off into the sunset. Too $hort was one of the first rappers to make it to ten albums, so calling it a career a few weeks north of 30 didn’t seem outlandish.
Gettin’ It is one of the more overlooked albums in Too $hort’s catalogue. Recording and releasing 10 albums over the space of 13 years isn’t easy, but Short Dog showed no signs of fatigue, even as he seemed to be reaching the end of the road. As always, Too $hort knows what his audience likes and happily provides them with that musical red meat. But he also continues to demonstrate some versatility, exploring new areas, while remaining true to his music’s spirit.
Gettin’ It begins with its title track and first single, where Too $hort encourages his audience to do what they need to do to live their best life, ostensibly by getting money. Acutely aware of the system’s imbalances, he hopes to embolden others to enrich themselves financially in order to secure a better future for themselves and their family. “The first thing you need to do is set yourself some goals,” he raps. “Think positive, everything else is old / And work hard, never stop hustling / 'Cause they just love to see the Black man struggling.”
The track features a slick replaying of Bootsy Collins and the Rubber Band’s “I’d Rather Be With You,” courtesy of the mid-1990s configuration of Parliament-Funkadelic, including Michael Hampton, Gregory Thomas, and Amp Fiddler. New Jersey rapper YZ makes an utterly random appearance near the song’s end, delivering the chorus to his early 1990s single “The Ghetto’s Been Good To Me.”
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“That’s Why” is a multi-pronged dis track directed towards subjects of his then outstanding beefs. It’s the result of different controversies converging, involving Short relocating from Oakland to Atlanta, his issues with KMEL (one of the two urban Bay Area radio stations), and his beef with the Luniz and their manager (and former friend) C&H. This ill will led to the Luniz dissing Too $hort on the song “Playa Hata,” C&H getting two-pieced by one of Short’s crew at KMEL’s annual Summer Jam concert, 106.1 KMEL banning Too $hort from their radio waves, and the lingering rumors that he was somehow “driven out” of Oakland.
Too $hort breaks down the genesis all of these conflicts. He gets fairly in the weeds explaining how things went bad with C&H/The Luniz (apparently it started over the sale of a car?) and why he moved to Atlanta (he was continually harassed by the Oakland Police Department and enjoyed himself at Freaknik/Jack the Rapper). When he focuses on talking his shit, the song is highly entertaining. His voice drips with contempt as he proclaims, “I’m underground; 106 can’t ban me” and “Fuck all that black ball shit, it won't last / KMEL? y'all can kiss my ass.” He also dismisses the Luniz as he raps, “I raised too many rappers you support / Ask 'em who they grew up on? TOO $HORT!”
It should be noted that days after Gettin’ It was released, Too $hort and the Luniz settled their differences on Sway’s The Wake Up Show, which was hosted on KMEL.
“Survivin’ The Game” is one of Too $hort’s strongest politically aware songs in his catalogue, as well as one of his most prescient. He speaks to the threats poised against the Black community, addressing the prison industrial complex, gentrification, and the bleak movement towards a future where “computers taking over, money's obsolete.” He also stresses the importance of staying grounded even as he’s achieved success. “I was born with the skills of a Black man,” he raps. “To survive in the streets and keep stacking / I’m 30 years old, and far from done / I don't care what you think, I ain’t forgot where I’m from.”
“Bad Ways” is another largely socially aware track. It features the talents of then up-and-coming rappers Joe Riz, Murda One, and Stud. The trio, who would later go on to form the group Badwayz, each address their efforts to escape the grip of street violence while “living life on the hinges.” Meanwhile, Too $hort goes a different direction with his verse, laughing about his bad habits while celebrating stealing a hapless sap’s woman out from under him.
Gettin’ It features the type of songs that Too $hort is best known for, spitting game and boasting about his voluminous sexual conquests. And as always, he has the panache to pull it off. He might travel down a well-trodden path on “Nasty Rhymes,” but he sounds as charming and as spry as ever. “Take My Bitch” is a very Too $hort version of Common’s “I Used to Love H.E.R.,” with the rapper boasting about how he’s made rap music his bitch and got rich through her. “Cuz when I put my bitch on the streets,” he raps. “N****s rush to the store ’cause they love the beats.”
Short employs a handful of different producers to work behind the board on Gettin’ It. The roster includes his Dangerous Crew cohorts like Ant Banks and Shorty B, as well as Atlanta-based musicians like Spearhead X and Colin Wolfe. MC Breed, the Flint, Michigan born emcee who later moved to Atlanta, does some outstanding production on “Fuck My Car,” adding murmuring synths to a thumping bassline.
Shorty B’s production on “Pimp Me” is among the album’s best, with the ghostly, rattling percussion adding to its slinky atmosphere. He also does a great job remixing “Never Talk Down,” which originally appeared on Rappin’ 4-Tay’s Off Parole (1996) a couple of months earlier.
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Gettin’ It also features “Buy You Some,” a rare “lyric centered” Too $hort track. It was originally featured on the Dangerous Crew’s Don’t Try This At Home (1995) compilation, with Too $hort and Erick Sermon (another Atlanta transplant) delivering verses to a funky guitar groove. Here the song is slightly remixed and expanded, featuring additional verses by Short and Sermon as well as appearances by MC Breed and Atlanta emcee Kool-Ace. Personally, I prefer the short and sweet original version. Too $hort’s first verse on both is a personal favorite, as he clowns those jealous of his success. “I guess I see you on the charts in the meanwhile,” he muses. “Another face in the crowd plus some freestyle / Wishing you could be in the light / Promoters pay me 10 G's just to breathe on the mic... bitch!”
Too $hort and crew do have some new tricks up their sleeves on Gettin’ It. “I Must Confess” is something that I thought I would never hear on a Short Dog album: a love song. Or at least Too $hort’s closest approximation to a love song, as it’s as raunchy and sexually explicit as just about anything in his catalogue.
“I’ve Been Watching You (Move Your Sexy Body),” Gettin’ It’s bonus cut, doesn’t feature Too $hort at all. Rather, the Dangerous Crew band again teams up with Parliament-Funkadelic to record a cover of the Parliament song of the same name, which originally appeared on The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein (1976) two decades earlier. It’s a relatively straightforward cover that focuses on the song’s main groove, forgoing the various breakdowns featured on the original recording. The P-Funk players who appeared on “Gettin’ It” are joined by Garry Shider and George Clinton himself, who both contribute vocals to the song.
Which brings us back to “So Watcha’ Sayin’,” where Too $hort finishes his victory lap with a flourish. “It’s like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, man: I got the most points scored, and you gotta catch up,” he asserts. “So it's all good. For the first n***a that step up and take over: It's yours, baby. But for now, I'm still running this motherfucker, ya know? And you can put a bitch on that one.” It’s an all-time great bit of shit-talking on record, and it serves as a perfect way for Short Dog to end his career.
As it would turn out, Gettin’ It was emphatically not the last album Too $hort made. Instead, his “retirement” was a means to negotiate a new contract with Jive. He returned a few years later with Can’t Stay Away (1999), and eventually, not long after his 40th birthday, released “Blow the Whistle,” which would become the defining song in his catalogue. He recently released Sir Too $hort Vol. 1 (2025) and still tours frequently.
There haven’t been many rap “retirement” albums in the three decades since Gettin’ It. Mostly because most rappers don’t decide to retire. The most famous hip-hop release marketed as a final project was Jay-Z’s The Black Album (2003); retirement didn’t take for him either. Most rappers keep pushing until they literally can’t push anymore.
If Too $hort really had been satisfied walking away after Gettin’ It, it would have been enough. He spoke about his experiences as a young Black man in Oakland, put the Bay Area hip-hop scene on the map, and said “bitch” a lot. That’s the foundation of a bulletproof legacy.
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