walking upstream…
Too $hort
photo: rickmunroe01 · cc by-sa 4.0 ↗Too $hort
Todd Shaw was born in South Central Los Angeles but came of age in East Oakland after his family relocated around 1980, and it was there, with no record deal, that he started selling homemade rap tapes out of the trunk of his car in the early '80s. Recording original material and radio-style skits over stripped funk breaks, he built the West Coast's first DIY rap business years before 'gangsta rap' had a name, eventually founding Dangerous Music before signing to Jive/RCA. 1987's 'Born to Mack' and 1989's 'Life Is... Too $hort' made him a platinum star on the strength of his deep, unhurried drawl and X-rated storytelling — pimp narratives played for comedy as much as menace, riding stripped, bass-heavy funk loops. He remained the Bay's mentor-in-chief for three decades, a direct hand in shaping E-40, Mac Dre, and the Oakland lineage that followed him.
the sound in question
1987
Freaky TalesToo $hort
walk the tributaries ↓
James Brown1960s–70s · Funk / Soul / R&B
Too $hort has said plainly: 'I grew up with funk. James Brown, Rick James, Bootsy Collins, George Clinton, and anyone else from that sound and era,' crediting that grounding with giving him a 'safety blanket' to say whatever he wanted on record, funny or filthy. James Brown's rhythmic authority — vocal ad-libs functioning as percussion, a groove that just locks in and never resolves — is the bedrock Too $hort built his own patient, rhythm-first delivery on top of.
listen: upstream & here
1970
Sex Machine (Part 1)James Brown
1987
Freaky TalesToo $hort
listen forHear how James Brown's 'Sex Machine' rides one insistent groove for minutes at a stretch, voice working as another rhythm instrument, then listen for that same patient, groove-locked delivery under Too $hort's deadpan raps on 'Freaky Tales.'
Rick James1980s · Funk / R&B / Soul / Post-disco
Rick James is named directly alongside James Brown, Bootsy Collins, and George Clinton in Too $hort's own account of the funk records he grew up on. Where James Brown gave him rhythm, Rick James's brand of funk gave him swagger and showmanship — a slick, sexed-up party-funk persona built for the strip club and the radio alike, which Too $hort carried straight into his own X-rated stage presence.
listen: upstream & here
1981
Super FreakRick James
1990
Short but FunkyToo $hort
listen forRick James's 'Super Freak' turns a thick, elastic bassline and a leering vocal into pure party-funk theater; Too $hort's 'Short but Funky' — title says it plainly — chases that same slick, dance-floor-ready funk sheen instead of his usual grimier loops.
George Clinton1970s · Funk / Psychedelic soul / R&B
George Clinton rounds out the same list of funk forebears Too $hort has cited by name as his formative influences, describing them collectively as the source of the musical 'safety blanket' behind his career. Clinton's P-Funk universe — squelching synth bass, absurdist party language, a cosmic sense of humor wrapped around deep pocket grooves — shows up in Too $hort's own willingness to make funk the loose, playful backbone even under his rawest material.
listen: upstream & here
1982
Atomic DogGeorge Clinton
2006
Blow the WhistleToo $hort
listen forLine up George Clinton's 'Atomic Dog' with Too $hort's 'Blow the Whistle' — both ride a bouncing, synth-driven funk bassline treated as the whole song's personality, with a vocal that's more chant and catchphrase than conventional verse.