Happy 30th Anniversary to Too $hort’s seventh studio album Shorty The Pimp, originally released July 14, 1992.
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Todd “Too $hort” Shaw emerged as a conquering hero on Shorty The Pimp. The architect of Oakland, California’s hip-hop scene, the almighty Short Dog had successfully made the transition from local hero to Platinum artist by the early 1990s. He’d maximized his potential, recording quintessentially Oakland rap that appealed to audiences around the country and the globe. Short Dog’s “Give a Fuck” levels were at historical lows at this point, and he wasn’t shy about letting his listeners know this on his seventh album.
Released 30 years ago, Shorty The Pimp features Too $hort at his most brash and bold, feeling vindicated by his own success. Combined with excellent production, Shorty The Pimp is an extremely strong entry in Short Dog’s catalogue. It’s arguably not in his top 5 of all time, but it was a worthy follow-up to his previous efforts and demonstrated his growth lyrically and musically.
One reason Shorty The Pimp is notable is because it features Anthony “Ant” Banks’ first credited productions on a Too $hort album. Banks had been building his profile since the late 1980s, producing tracks for Oakland up-and-comers like MC Ant, Spice-1, Dangerous Dame, and future Short affiliate MC Pooh a.k.a. Pooh-Man. Banks is a central contributor to Shorty The Pimp—nearly every track is either produced, mixed, or produced and mixed by the Big Badass. Thanks to Banks’ and Short’s combined efforts, Shorty The Pimp featured some of Short Dog’s funkiest production to date. Short had been incorporating live instrumentation into his music for years, but with this long player, he and Banks smoothly integrated the use of studio musicians and sampled material.
On “In The Trunk,” the album’s lead-off track, Short Dog celebrates achieving success on his own terms, without compromising his musical values and staying loyal to his adopted home of Oakland. “Every rap I ever made was about this town,” he boasts. He documents his rise to prominence in the Bay Area, before going platinum with little to no radio airplay. The beat is one of the album’s best, anchored by a pounding drum track and slick guitar licks. Almost 25 years later, the song would be featured in the opening moments of MCU’s Black Panther, signifying Oakland’s early 1990s soundtrack.
Too $hort structures Shorty The Pimp differently than his previous releases. Earlier albums were separated into the “clean” side 1, while his sex raps and tracks with foul language resided on side 2. Here there’s no clear division of content, as Too $hort had lost nearly all interest in recording radio-safe material.
Too $hort starts with his sex-related material early, with back-to-back explicit jams “Ain’t Nothing But A Dog” and “Hoes.” The former features Short Dog boasting about his many sexual conquests, including fucking “your” prom date. “Hoes” is a solid, even raunchier throwback to Short’s “Freaky Tales” days, as he exhibits his appreciation of women who are, shall we say, sexually liberated.
“Step Daddy” is the most entertaining and humorous song about getting nasty on Shorty The Pimp. Rapping over a sample of Parliament’s “Agony of Defeet,” Short Dog can barely control his glee as he brags about fucking the neglected baby mamas of the world, even with their offspring present. “So what if your kids start tearing shit up?” he raps. “I really don’t give a fuck / I never get mad about the shit they break / When I'm around, we eat steak.”
Too $hort also includes more social commentary on Shorty The Pimp than he had on his previous albums. “So You Want To Be A Gangster,” which first appeared on the Juice soundtrack (1991), is included on the long-player. Too $hort gets as serious as he ever has on record, weaving a cautionary tale to aspiring hard rocks about the perils of engaging in illegal activity and the fragility of life.
Things are just as bleak on “No Love From Oakland,” a lengthy description of the harsh, unforgiving nature of Short Dog’s city of residence. “You gets no love from Oakland, bitch,” serves as a constant refrain throughout the song. Short Dog delivers a pair of marathon verses, as he describes how the conditions in certain areas of the city inevitably push the population towards a life of crime. He demonstrates how racism constantly feeds the cycle of poverty and violence, rapping, “You see, people try to call us filthy trash / Even though we live better and make more cash / Than they do; I’m not a no-good thug / Standing on the corner, selling drugs.”
Just as strong is “I Want To Be Free (That’s The Truth),” the album’s first single. Built around a sample of the Ohio Players song of the same name, the track is a scathing missive directed toward law enforcement for their continued harassment of the Black population. Again, Too $hort voices his deep frustration with how police continue to perceive him, even though he earned his money through legal means. His resentment burns bright as he raps, “I was broke, the only thing I had was game / I started making money and knew things would change / Bought a Benz, thought it might earn respect / But the OPD found it hard to accept.”
Not all of Short Dog’s attempts to branch out are successful. “Hootchie” is the album’s weak link. Short enlists D’wayne Wiggins of Tony! Toni! Toné!, who creates a track that sounds more befitting of a Tony! Toni! Toné! song. The track is musically interesting enough, but it comes across as a bloodless PG version of the music Too $hort is known for creating.
Short Dog does occasionally go back to the basics. “It Don’t Stop” is a trunk-rattling throwback to his work on his late 1980s albums. He sprinkles braggadocio over eastern influenced keys and a sample of the Ohio Players’ sultry “Pack It Up.” “So keep your jealous-ass thoughts in your diary,” he raps. “And if you're looking for a leader, you can hire me.”
The epic “Something To Ride To” features the audience’s first up-close look at the talents of Short Dog’s then fledgling Dangerous Crew. The Dangerous Crew was a collective of Oakland-based artists and musicians that Short had known and collaborated with for years. The crew had not reached its full form on “Something To Ride To,” but regardless, it’s an album highlight. Short shares rapping duties with the aforementioned Ant Banks, Pooh-Man, and Mhisani (a.k.a. Goldy). Short Dog’s own performance is a little disappointing, as he uses only a slightly altered version of his verse on D-Nice’s “Check Yourself,” which featured on the latter’s To Tha Rescue (1991). However, Pooh-Man and Mhisani are in fine form, delivering detailed descriptions of rolling through the streets of Oakland in their fly rides, searching for female companionship.
The most notable part of the nearly 12-minute track is its musical backdrop. Studio musician Carl Wheeler plays the piano throughout the track, complementing the funky synths and thumping drum track. Wheeler especially shines on the track’s lengthy back-half, including a more than five-minute instrumental passage, where he adopts a minimalist approach, adding just enough to the groove.
Shorty The Pimp was as successful as Too $hort’s previous releases. It was certified Gold within a few months, but didn’t go platinum until the mid-1990s. However, Short Dog’s career success continued unabated, following up with Get In Where You Fit In (1993), one of his best albums. Shorty The Pimp also marked an important step in Too $hort’s own musical evolution, as he sustained the more funk-based approach, while utilizing live instruments almost exclusively. This album might not have become his biggest triumph, but it still served as a reminder that Too $hort would always do it his way.
Enjoyed this article? Read more about Too $hort here:
Born To Mack (1987) | Short Dog’s In The House (1990) | Get In Where You Fit In (1993)
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