Too $hort has come under fire for some inappropriate comments he made to XXL regarding advice he’d supposedly give to young boys this month, and while 38th Notes does not endorse such behavior, it’s not all that surprising. Too $hort has actually worked positively with Oakland youth for several years, but given the content of his music, it’s widely agreed upon that he may not be the best teacher figure. I understand the outrage, but not the level of surprise.

In the mean time, the godfather of Oakland rap is preparing to release album #19, No TrespASSing. $hort is credited with being an originator of the independent rap hustle, and now, after 2+ decades with Jive, is returning to those indie roots. Having heard his forthcoming album, I can assure you that the quality of this album is leaps and bounds ahead of the stuff he was dishing out through Jive towards the end of his contract. Stand out tracks include “Trying to Come Up,” “I Got Caught,” “Shut Up Nancy,” “Boss,” “Hey,” “Double Header,” and “Respect The Pimpin.” You can get a taste of this via his new music video blitz, but he hasn’t even gotten to his collaborations with Snoop, Devin The Dude, 50 Cent, and Twista.

He has however given listeners a peek at the diversity of No TrespASSing through a slew of Joslyn Rose Lyon-directed visuals. We’ve heard his soulful blues record with San Francisco’s Martin Luther (the vintage silent film inspired video is dope!), a revved up Harley anthem with Richie Rich, his electronic pop ode to threesomes with Oakland’s Wallpaper, a smoothed out collaboration with Silk-E, an E-40 assisted stripper theme, a player’s anthem featuring 1-O.A.K., Dom Kennedy and Beeda Weeda and even a AVN-approved ode to porn stars. I’m forgetting some but I can’t keep up, this dude won’t stop rappin! Enjoy

Additional Reading: Too $hort breaks down his 25 most essential songs

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