There's a moment in the video for Too $hort's "Life Is Too $hort" video that pretty much surmises his entire career. It comes at the end of the clip, when Short, wearing a "Homeboy" sweatshirt and thick dookie rope gold chain crosses his arms and stares confidently at the camera. Seconds later, the clip dissolves and we see Short walking off into the sunset, the city of Oakland looming beyond.
Confident and sure, with his gaze always on what's next, the sequence is a perfect example of Short's four-decade career. He's been a leader, helping to create a blueprint for what independent rap could look like. And he's been consistent, led by his charisma and work ethic, earning him a valuable place in current rap conversations almost 40 years after he began rhyming as a teenager in 1980.
Those two main elements were captured in what became his breakout video from his mainstream arrival via his album, Life Is... Too Short. Originally released independently on his own Dangerous Music in 1988 before he signed with Jive to distribute the project for a re-release the following year, the album cemented Short's arrival as a player in Hip-Hop's national landscape following the regional success of his previous album Born to Mack. The video for "Life Is... Too Short" played a major role in establishing his presence.
It's simple, with Short prowling around Oakland, where he moved when he was 14 after growing up in L.A. and offering insight into the ins and outs of the Town. His musings run the gambit, from police harassment: "Ya only live once and ya callin' it hell/Policeman tryin' to take ya to jail/You could give a man time but you don't know/In a matter of time, I'll be runnin' the show" — to chilling during a dice game, showing off cars, and hanging out on the streets with the homies. To them, he offers advice like: "Everybody's got that same old dream/To have big money and fancy things/Drive a brand new Benz, keep your bank right here/Never hear me stutter once 'cause I talk real clear/It's on you, homeboy, whatcha gonna do?/You can take my advice and start workin', fool."
"I moved to Oakland the year after I heard Hip-Hop for the first time," he told VladTV in 2017. "Right when I moved to Oakland is when all the rap records started coming out in 1980. The year 1980, that's the year I started rapping, and that's the year I fell in love with Hip-Hop. That was the birth of Too $hort."
