Too $hort

Top 10 Bay Area Music Scandals of 2012

The Bay Area music scene had a particular flair for making headlines for reasons other than actual music in 2012. Some of these 10 incidents are totally tabloid, others are cold and criminal, but none of them are boring. From Ecstasy rings and instrument thievery to lascivious infidelity and shockin ... More >>

Sizzle & Fizzle: Highs and Lows from the Last Week in S.F. Music

The 10 Best Bay Area Hip-Hop Records of 2012

It's been another big year in Bay Area hip-hop, with one huge collaboration album from two local greats and lots of strong releases from young local upstarts. So before the world ends, let's round up the 10 best Bay Area hip-hop/rap records (including albums, mixtapes, etc.) of 2012. Main Attrakion ... More >>

E-40 and Too $hort: Their Top 10 Pre-History Collaborations

E-40 and Too $hort were both platinum-selling recording artists on Jive Records throughout the '90s and early '00s, but they were always discouraged by the label from collaborating together outside of $hort's appearance on 40's single "Rapper's Ball" in 1996. Now, 16 years later, the two Bay Area r ... More >>

A$AP Rocky Brings Out Hometown Special Guests at the Fox Oakland, 10/24/12

A$AP RockySchoolboy QDanny BoyWednesday, October 24, 2012Fox Theater, OaklandBetter than: Anything else you could do on a Wednesday night. Where were you!?Bouncing around on a stage draped in camouflage nets with the rest of the A$AP mob, A$AP Rocky wore a bright white army-like vest in front of a g ... More >>

Watch: E-40 and Too $hort Pretend They're Insensitive Men in 'Dump Truck'

On "Dump Truck," the first single from E-40 and Too $hort's long-awaited collaborative double-album The History Channel (which drops on Nov. 6), the two longtime friends are joined by the youngsters in Travis Porter, which is not an individual but a group from Atlanta that's popular for making music ... More >>

What the Hell Is Too $hort Doing on VH1's Couples Therapy?

Legendary Oakland mack Too $hort has found himself in a very unlikely place: on the cast for the second season of VH1 reality show Couples Therapy 2, which premieres on Oct. 3. The pimp-tight rapper, whose real name is Todd Shaw, appears with Monica Payne, a music manager and former recording artist ... More >>

Let the Spirit Move You

Sizzle & Fizzle: Highs and Lows from the Last Week in S.F. Music

Rock the Bells 2012 Lineup: Deltron 3030, E-40, and Too $hort Rep the Bay

Deltron 3030 (the trio of Del the Funky Homosapien, Dan the Automator, and Kid Koala) and the powerhouse duo of E-40 and Too $hort are the local names representing the Bay Area at this year's hip-hop megafest Rock The Bells, which returns to Shoreline Amphitheatre this August 25-26. This year's lin ... More >>

SF Weekly Letters

Live Review, 3/15/12: Too $hort Is Stoned and Sloppy at the New Parish

Too $hort March 15, 2012 The New Parish Better than: A version of Girls Gone Wild set at the Oakland Coliseum DMV. It's often been said, probably inaccurately, that the Inuit people have 100 words for snow or something, right? To illustrate the subtleties language is capable of, when a subject de ... More >>

The New Too $hort: Oakland Rapper Reconsiders His Image After a Scandal

Oakland Rapper Beeda Weeda Borrows Too $hort's Persona, Picks His Five Favorite Songs

"I'm kinda like taking the Too $hort persona and putting my own stamp on it," says Oakland-based rapper Beeda Weeda about his upcoming project. Titled Bass Rock Babies, the album is co-signed by $hort Dog, who contributes guest raps and has allowed Beeda to recreate classic videos of his to promote ... More >>

Beloved Bay Area Hip-Hop Photographer D-Ray Needs Help Paying for Surgery

D-Ray Archer (right) and hip-hop star Drake.​D-Ray Archer needs no last name in the West Coast rap world; she's widely known as one of the few female photojournalists with a street stamp of approval up and down the state. Her deep love for the local Bay Area scene is apparent to anyone who tal ... More >>

Too $hort Is Still Alive, and He's Performing Tomorrow in Oakland

Maybe you heard last week's Twitter rumor that Oakland rapper Too $hort had died -- it gained enough steam to merit a mention on celebrity gossip sites such as TMZ and Entertainment Weekly. Of course, it wasn't true: "Stop calling my phone," $hort finally tweeted on Nov. 22. "I'm not dead. Been in ... More >>

SF Rapper San Quinn Reviews His Own Discography

What the shirt says.​ San Quinn is a certified Bay Area rap veteran. Since dropping his debut, Don't Cross Me, back in 1993, he's gone on to amass a 15-album discography, with his latest project, Can't Take The Ghetto Out A Ni**a, released in July. With that album's new single, "Big Bank," sti ... More >>

Oakland Rapper Too $hort Is Holding a Fundraiser for S.F. Mayoral Candidate Leland Yee

And in the category of "we didn't know he cared!" we bring you this news: Too $hort -- naughty Oakland rapper, major Warriors fan, and scourge of conservative types everywhere -- is holding a fundraiser for S.F. mayoral candidate Leland Yee. Which, huh?

Before Kreayshawn: 10 Underrated and/or Forgotten Female MCs

Kreashawn: Oakland's latest female rap sensation.​Last week, around the fifth time someone sent me a link to Kreayshawn's "Gucci Gucci," I started having a feeling toward the diminutive rapper that was not entirely positive. This discomfort grew a few days later, when she reportedly signed a $ ... More >>

DJ Prince Aries Talks Bay Area Rap, Loving Too $hort, and Why Busta Rhymes Is a Jerk

Prince Aries​Prince Aries has been a presence in the Bay Area's hip-hop scene for more than a decade now, holding down VJ duties on the Distortion 2 Static show, throwing local rap parties, and now releasing a mixtape that combines exclusive tracks from the Bay's bright new stars like DaVinci ... More >>

Video: Too $hort Performed "Blow the Whistle" at Last Night's Warriors Game

Insert "Blow the Whistle" joke here.​Kind of a strange week for local musicians performing live at sporting events: Tomorrow, of course, we await the musical torture that will be Train's show at the S.F. Giants game, and last night, Senior Oakland rapper Too $hort performed a quick song (somewhat ... More >>

Sunday: Oakland Rapper Too $hort Makes His Fillmore District Debut at Yoshi's

Tamara PalmerMartin Luther and Too $hort.​Too $hort March 6, 2011 @ Yoshi's SFBetter than: Listening to a studio gangster who's behind closed doors getting his booty all spanked up.He staked a permanent place for Oakland on the international rap map over a more than 25-year career, but T ... More >>

Mistah F.A.B. on Today's New Album and the Return of Music for Regular People

Mistah F.A.B.: "I'm tired of dealing with negativity."​Today Bay Area rap veteran Mistah F.A.B. is releasing a street album comprised of all original songs entitled I Found My Backpack. Headed up by the soulful, self-motivating single "Quest," the project sees the one-time hyphy talisman ... More >>

Richie Rich's Top 5 Collabs: Rick James, Snoop Dogg, 2Pac, E-40, Too $hort

​Richie Rich's credentials as a Bay Area rap pioneer are surpassed by perhaps only Too $hort. When Rich hit the scene back in the late-'80s as a member of the Oakland-based quintet 415, they scored big with the regional classic "41Fivin." Since then, he's journeyed a career arc that's taken in a s ... More >>

F.N.M At We All We Got Tonight

www.OneShotMediaProductions.comHe'll Slapp You: Traxxamillion​​ South Bay producer Traxamillion was arguably as big a force in the hyphy movement as any artist. His hot-shit beats backed everyone from Keak Da Sneak to Mistah F.A.B. to Dem Hoodstarz to Too $hort to 41Fever. He even produced MC L ... More >>

Too $hort Arrested for DUI in Vegas

Too Drunk? Too $hort​Say it ain't so, $hort. This may have slipped under the radar due to all the music-related stuff going on last weekend, but on Aug 27, TMZ.com reported that Oakland rap pioneer Too $hort, ne Todd Anthony Shaw, had been arrested in Las Vegas under suspicion of driving under th ... More >>

Town Bizness Cancels SF Show

EKAphotographyTown Bizness Too $hort's highly-anticipated supergroup Town Bizness  has canceled their scheduled March 27 show at the Grand Ballroom. No official reason was given for the cancellation, and the show has yet to be rescheduled. A representative for $hort's label Up All Nite, reach ... More >>

Town Bizness Announce Debut Show

EKAphotographyAll Together Now: Town Bizness What do you get when you mix a hip-hop legend with some of the hottest local musicians around? Town Bizness. Having been one of the few local industry folks to hear significant portions of the upcoming Town Bizness album You Can't Take It With You, all I ... More >>

Two Gallants, Trash Talk Perform in Benefit for Oscar Grant's Family

The community support for the friends and family of BART shooting victim Oscar Grant has spread to the music community. First Too $hort spoke at an Oakland protest on Jan. 14, and now representatives from the indie and metal world are getting involved. Sacramento hardcore faves Trash Talk will take ... More >>

Santacon 2008, Ski Team: The Party, The Cure, Skot Olsen and Too $hort: Your Monday Morning Hangover

Weekend wrap-up by Janine KahnSunday was nasty and rainy, but that didn't keep photographer Jen Cash home in Walnut Creek. Click here for her photo set from 111 Minna, which had been converted into a retro winter wonderland with snow on the floor and attendees in 80's neon ski garb for "Ski Team: Th ... More >>

Last Night: Thrasher 2008 Skater of the Year Party featuring Too $hort

Thrasher 2008 Skater of the Year Party Great American Music Hall December 12, 2008 Review and Photos by Eric K. Arnold The t-shirted, sneakered, baseball-capped hordes descended upon the Great American Music Hall Friday night for Thrasher magazine's "Skater of the Year" party. Despite at least one ... More >>

Too Thrashed

SF Weekly Music Awards Nominee: Mistah F.A.B.

SF Weekly Interview: Nelly

Too $hort To Be Celebrated at VH1 Hip Hop Honors

Return of the Mac

LastNight: Too $hort at 1015 Folsom

Major-Label Misfit: Mistah F.A.B.

Too $hort

Get Off the Stage (Jive)

Better Than a Battle of the Bands: Prince vs. Too $hort

His Writing Technique is Unstoppable

Brian Coleman gets hip hop's golden years on the record

Bravez Team Hyphy

All Systems Go (Stand Up Entertainment/ Green Light Records)

Hip Hop 101: the Underdogs/Alt-Rock 101: the Secret of Their Overseas Success/ DJ Culture 101: the Critical Mash Honors Club

Mixtape Shmixtape

Wherein we review Yay Area mixtapes of the day

My Name Is Earl

E-40 blows up, and takes the rest of the Bay Area with him

Music Awards Nominees

Dial 510-Hip-Hop

The Cali Comm tour brings the region's best hip hop talent under one roof

Personality Crisis

As commercial hip hop radio becomes tired, turf wars flicker out, and the underground diversifies, does the Bay Area have its own identity anymore?

The Big O

The Luniz and the boom-market for East Oakland rap