Too $hort

After practically coining the term “biatch,” installing himself as the premier advocate of the pimp lifestyle, and appearing in at least one hardcore porn video, infamous Oakland, California, rapper Too $hort isn’t exactly a model citizen—then again, that’s not what people listen to sex-addled, proto-gangsta rap to find. After establishing his credentials with 1988’s Born To Mack, he helped craft the blueprint for West Coast rap, then retired briefly in the mid-’90s. Following the release of 2007’s Get Off The Stage, Too $hort’s recording studio equipment was reportedly seized to pay off a lawsuit stemming from a fatal 2008 car crash. In 2010, he returned with the critically acclaimed album, Still Blowin’, which he followed up with the new No Trespassing.

Updated 04/12/2012