Life Is...Too $hort

Life Is… Too $hort retains the essential elements of its predecessor, Born to Mack — the jumbo bass, the raw lyrics — but also develops $hort’s sound in crucial ways. While “I Ain’t Trippin’,” “Nobody Does It Better” and “CussWords” build on $hort’s reputation as a master of minimalistic authority, “Oakland” and “City of Dope” expand the blueprint by filling in the sound with other instruments and textures. And if anyone questioned whether $hort was going to tone down his subject matter for mass acceptance, the issue was put to rest with “Pimp the Ho.” Yet, even at its most vulgar, the music remains rooted in ghetto life. $hort’s persona is based more on realism than sensationalism. Crucially, this album proved that he could appeal to the masses without selling out, as evidenced by the heavy-yet-catchy “Life Is… Too $hort” and “Don’t Fight the Feeling.” An instant classic, the title song encapsulates $hort’s style in just a few short bars: “Eight years on the mike and I'm not jokin' / Sir Too $hort comin' straight from Oakland / California, home of the rock / Eight woofers in the trunk, beatin' down the block.”