Too $hort

Editor's Review:

Rappers tend to share an affinity for pimps and the pimp game, and some MCs even go as far as to proclaim their pimpin’ abilities in verse. Ice-T is synonymous with pimp-rap (his name is a tribute to the world’s most famous pimp, Iceberg Slim), and these days the list of self-proclaimed pimp rappers includes Snoop Dogg and Jay-Z. However, with the exception of Ice-T, none of these bling-bling players can hold a candle to the mighty Too $hort. Not only was Too $hort the first to put Oakland on the rap map, but he’s personified the pimp game in hip-hop throughout his entire career — from hustlin’ tapes out of the trunk of his car to relying on little more than himself and his own skills to get over. And Too $hort has gotten over the way few other rappers in history have.
Life I$ follows the career of Too $hort, a.k.a. Todd Shaw, from his youth, when he fell in love with beats, to his lean years as a high school dropout in Oakland, his time with Jive Records and the series of beefs and drama that eventually lead to Too $hort’s departure from Oakland. Interviews with $hort, his mother and friends as well as with former business partners and notable rappers like Chuck D, E-40, Freddy B and rap journalist Davey D are interspersed throughout this DVD, which also includes extras like footage from $hort’s birthday and retirement parties and after parties, documentary outtakes and commentary from executive producer D’Wayne Wiggans. Life I$ is a lesson in game. Recognize.

– Max Sidman

Write Your Own Review

Bookmark:

Record Label Grass Roots Entertainment Released August 2003

Tracks

Comments down for maintenance.