LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥� At 60, is helping usher hip-hop into what he calls its senior citizen era. Just don鈥檛 expect him to rap like one.
The is still recording, touring and talking slick more than four decades after he began selling homemade tapes on the streets of the Bay Area. While the genre has long treated aging like an unwritten career-ending offense, Too $hort is breaking the rule and challenging the culture鈥檚 elder statesmen to keep going with him.
His latest proof is 鈥淪ir Too $hort Vol. 2: Drink & Smoke,鈥� his 23rd studio album, produced entirely by longtime collaborator It arrives Friday, exactly 20 years after the release of his enduring hit
Too $hort, whose catalog also includes classics like 鈥淭he Ghetto鈥� and 鈥淪hake That Monkey,鈥� says he isn鈥檛 interested in slowing down anytime soon. That was certainly evident when in February.
In an interview with The Associated Press this week, Too $hort reflected on turning 60, challenging hip-hop鈥檚 age limits, preserving the legacy of Lil Jon鈥檚 late son, DJ Young Slade, the staying power of 鈥淏low the Whistle鈥� and why he has no plans to stop until 鈥渢he wheels fall off.鈥�
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
AP: You recently turned 60, but you鈥檙e still releasing albums, touring and influencing the culture. When you first started selling homemade tapes on the streets of Oakland, did you ever imagine you鈥檇 still be doing this more than four decades later?
TOO $HORT: At the age of 14 or 15, my mentality was, 鈥淟et people hear this music. We鈥檙e going to rock some house parties and high school dances and sell some tapes to fans in the streets.鈥� When I got my foot in the door, I knew this was going to be my job. It was always 鈥渢ill the wheels fall off.鈥� It was never, 鈥淟et鈥檚 do this for 30 or 40 years.鈥�
I鈥檝e always said the day hip-hop is no longer my job is probably the day I鈥檒l stop. But the love I have for hip-hop won鈥檛 allow me to stop recording. I鈥檝e never taken a long break. I鈥檝e continuously been in the studio, continuously doing shows. I just keep it going because it鈥檚 my job.
AP: Why do you think you鈥檝e remained relevant when so many careers have come and gone?
TOO $HORT: I truly love making music. It鈥檚 never felt like work. I could have stopped after 鈥淏low the Whistle鈥� and been like, 鈥淪tory told.鈥� But somebody鈥檚 got to go out into these uncharted waters and blaze the trail. Look at and the other guys who kept going after the kids were grown and the grandkids were on the way.
Who laid the rule down that in hip-hop you gotta stop at 40? Every milestone they said was old. First it was 30, then it was 40, then it was 50. Now we got senior citizen rappers, and this … is real. Hip-hop is entering the place where jazz, blues and R&B have older artists who are still performing and recording. We should too.
AP: Twenty years after its release, 鈥淏low the Whistle鈥� is still played everywhere from NBA arenas to the Olympics. Why do you think that record has endured?
TOO $HORT: I don鈥檛 know if you could give me the ingredients and tell me how to do it again; I don鈥檛 think I could. It had to happen organically. I give Lil Jon a lot of credit because he鈥檚 made a lot of songs we鈥檝e loved since the day they came out. We make good music together, and that鈥檚 why I鈥檓 excited for people to hear what we鈥檙e still doing 30 years after we first worked together.
AP: This album reunites you with Lil Jon, but it also features work from his late son, Slade, What did that collaboration mean to you?
TOO $HORT: His son passed away after we finished recording. We had actually done about twice as many songs as ended up on this project. I saw how it affected Jon, and I had recently lost my brother, so I knew that feeling of loss. The whole time, Slade was producing or co-producing a lot of the tracks I was working on. The first thing that came to me was that I鈥檇 be more than proud to be part of his son鈥檚 legacy and give something to the world that would help him live forever. Jon keeps saying, 鈥淪lade鈥檚 legacy,鈥� and I鈥檓 just trying to be a part of that and show the world we lost another good, talented person.
AP: You and E-40 celebrated Bay Area hip-hop together during your 2020 Verzuz appearance. Fans still love seeing you two together. Would you ever team up again, whether for another Verzuz, a tour or something else?
TOO $HORT: We did one in 2020, but it wasn鈥檛 a battle. We had a good time. We did a lot of laughing, a lot of togetherness. I didn鈥檛 want to battle 40 then, and I don鈥檛 want to battle him now. That鈥檚 my best friend in hip-hop. I鈥檇 sign up for me and 40 against anybody. That鈥檇 be fun. They haven鈥檛 had two groups. 鈥� I put that out there: Who wants to battle Too $hort and E-40 in Verzuz?
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