Life Is... Too $Hort

Too Short never had the skills or technique of LL Cool J or Big Daddy Kane, but what the Oakland rapper lacks in technique, he's always more than made up for with irresistible, '70s-inspired funk grooves that simply won't quit. When Short -- after enjoying a small cult following for a few years in Northern California -- joined a major label with Life Is...Too Short's predecessor, Born to Mack, too many East Coast MCs were inundating hip-hop with cliched tracks consisting of only James Brown samples and a drum machine. Too Short, however, presented an attractive alternative with highly melodic, danceable tracks that made no secret of his love of '70s funk heroes like Parliament, the Ohio Players, and Cameo. This CD's X-rated, sexually explicit lyrics received their share of vehement criticism, and the MC responded that Too Short is an outrageous character who shouldn't be taken too seriously. Be that as it may, his commanding reflection on the drug plague, "City of Dope," underscores the fact that he could be just as effective with social commentary instead of exploiting sex. ~ Alex Henderson