If It Ain't Broke...

09/22/2000 2:00 AM, LAUNCH
James Carter

For an MC like Too $hort, who's got so much to say about everything from the women in his bed to the dollars in his bank account, one would think that bragging about one of hip-hop's longest and most successful careers wouldn't present much of a challenge.

But Todd Shaw, Too $hort's real-life alter ego, prefers playing things much more low-key, even though his story has become the blueprint for hip-hop entrepreneurialism.

Too $hort began his career in 1979, selling homemade rap tapes out of the trunk of his car in Oakland, California. He created enough of a buzz to earn a contract with Jive Records, and since then, he's broken off 11 albums, picked up three gold and six platinum plaques, retired from the rap game, returned to the rap game, and spit more game on record than any of his peers.

By any standard, it's a success story, just not one Too $hort is particularly interested in bragging about, surprisingly.

"I personally never wanted the light to really shine on my other accomplishments," $hort said. "I mean, it's f--king hard to believe, and people hate me for the sh-t, but I really, really, really just enjoy making records for me to the fans without really using the media publications or radio and TV. I'm not feeling any void that I need this commercial recognition. I do not need it. The people who buy the records, they know. And millions of other people, they know. Even people who don't buy it know about the legend of Too $hort."

Another chapter is about to be added to that legend as $hort prepares for the release of his 12th album, You Nasty. "This is a one-time album thing," $hort asserts. "I did this for everyone who came up to me and said, 'Please give me some more of that old-school, nasty-ass Too $hort sh-t!' It's a special request."

The album's title is appropriate, considering that the disc is filled with the same explicit pimp game that $hort has been dropping since the '80s. But this time around, the freaky tales' themes spill over onto the album's five different X-rated covers, one of which features a naked $hort being "attended to" by two women.

$hort says the covers are not an attempt to compete with the next-level explicitness of rappers like Eminem and Lil' Kim, but simply to emphasize his theme. "It's a different kind of art," he explains. "You've heard Too $hort for a number of years. Now you might actually see him in action. But in the same sense, it's still going to be fictitious. Some people look at the pictures and say, 'Get this garbage out of my face!' Others say, 'That's the $hort Dog I like!'"

$hort says the artwork is the only thing that's really different about this album. Musically, he takes an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach. "My formula is making records for a Too $hort hardcore audience that hears there is a Too $hort album out, and without even hearing a song, they go in the record store and buy it. When they do, it's my job not to disappoint them.

"I think there is a hardcore audience of '$hort Dog's in the house!' people," he continues. "I talk to the younger kids, and I truly believe that the younger kids are really more fascinated with buying the old Too $hort albums. I've got a 18-year-old guy coming up to me saying, 'All I'm playing in my car is Born To Mack.' But when Born To Mack came out, he was in the first grade. I'm totally in shock that 20 years after I started rapping, the sh-t is still as popular as it was 10 years ago, and that I'm able to continue the same formula that I've been doing for over a decade, and it's still working for kids today." "I think it's nothing more than a blessing, and I just roll with it, and I try not to abuse it or rock the boat," $hort adds graciously. "I just let it go, and I don't want to change things up too much. I don't want to start making different kinds of music and lose my fans."

$hort promises there will be an album number 13, which will fall in line with his new career goals. "At first, I was chasing my dream, getting Too $hort national, worldwide exposure, and platinum albums," he explains. "Then I was really considering retiring, and I figured I'd be the first rapper to retire, and just let it all go. But rap is so addictive that I've never known anyone to succeed at that one [retiring]. The new goals I've set for myself now is that I want to string together so many gold and platinum albums that it'll take the next rapper forever to come and match my track record."

Ironically, most of the artists trying to duplicate Too $hort's accomplishments will be following his entrepreneurial model. In response, $hort tells new artists that their mentality is more important than the methods they use to get their music to the public. "A lot of people are recognizing that it is better to make an effort for yourself as far as getting the record in the record store or getting someone to purchase it. It's better to go that route than to make your music and only pursue major labels. If you don't have a deal, you're not successful--that's bullsh-t!

"If I was starting now, I might be like a lot of other people right now, confused about what's real and the proper approach," $hort admits. "Cash Money and No Limit started off as independents, and had decent independent success long before nationally they were recognized. I think because they had that leg work of being independent for so long, and building up their bank accounts and equity, that's why they got to go into the music business so strong on a worldwide and national scale. That's from all that practice when you're just local in you're area. It's like college years.

"But you've got to set goals for yourself. I don't know what the formula for the next album is going be, but I always keep the tracks funky and rap about stuff that's easy to relate to, whether it be sex or social issues. But there will be an album 13 after this one. And when I bring it to you, I'll really bring it to you."