Born in Los Angeles and moving to Oakland in his teenage years, Too Short released his first album, Don't Stop Rappin' in 1983. This and his next three releases had raw and simple drumbeats using a LinnDrum drum machine in the early 1980s, switching to mostly the TR-808 and TR-909 by the mid-to-late 1980s. With his 1989 release, Life Is...Too $hort, he began infusing replayed established funk riffs (rather than samples) with his beats. In the early 1980s, Short produced custom raps for people with his high school friend, Freddy B. In 1986, Too Short and Freddie B. founded the Dangerous Music record label to distribute his music regionally. Dangerous Music has since changed names to $hort Records, and now Up All Nite. Too Short's music was highly popular in the early 1990s, having released Short Dog's in the House in 1990, Shorty the Pimp in 1992, Get in Where You Fit in 1993, Cocktails in 1995, Gettin’ It in 1996, and Can’t Stay Away in 1999. After making several notable appearances on other people’s records, he began working on his eleventh album, Can't Stay Away. The album included guest appearances by 8Ball & MJG, Jay-Z, Jermaine Dupri, Puff Daddy, E-40, Daz Dillinger, Lil' Jon, Soopafly, Scarface and B-Legit as well as recognized verses by $hort himself. Can’t Stay Away dropped in 1999 and he has gone on to release ten more albums since. Too Short is one of the few rappers to release six platinum solo albums in a row. Additionally, he currently runs Up All Nite Records who puts out records by artists such as The Pack and Keak the Sneak.