Life Is... Too Short

Life Is... Too Short
Life Is... Too Short
Studio album by Too Short
Released	1988 or January 1989
Genre	Hip hop
Length	54:52
Label	Dangerous Music; Jive; RCA;
Producer	Too Short; R. Austin; T. Bohanon; Al Eaton;
Too Short chronology

Life Is... Too Short (stylized as Life Is... Too $hort) is the fifth studio album by American rapper Too Short. It was released in 1988 or early 1989 via Dangerous Music and Jive Records.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5] It appeared as a Dangerous Music/RCA Records release until Jive Records logos appeared on the release on October 25, 1990, after it became successful. It is currently his highest-selling album to date, being certified double platinum by the RIAA for sales of over 2 million copies.

Background

"Don't Fight the Feelin'" samples the 1982 One Way song of the same name.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[2]
MusicHound R&B: The Essential Album Guide	^[5]
RapReviews	7.5/10^[6]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	^[4]
The Village Voice	B+^[7]

In 2022, Rolling Stone included Life Is... Too Short on their list of "The 200 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of All Time", at No. 186.^[8]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Todd Shaw, except where noted.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Life Is... Too Short"		4:34
2.	"Rhymes"		4:17
3.	"I Ain't Trippin'"		6:41
4.	"Nobody Does It Better"		6:15
5.	"Oakland"	Shaw Al Eaton	4:41
6.	"Don't Fight the Feelin'" (featuring Danger Zone and Rappin' 4-Tay)		8:18
7.	"CussWords"		7:44
8.	"City of Dope"	Shaw Eaton	5:31
9.	"Pimp the Ho"		5:54
10.	"Outro"		0:59

Personnel

T. Bohanon - Producer
Al Eaton - Guitar, Keyboards, Producer, Mixing
Victor Hall - Photography
Helen Kim - Vocals (background)
Mr. Z - Clothing/Wardrobe
Todd Shaw - Keyboards, Programming, Producer, Drum Programming, Mixing
Janna Thomas - Vocals (background)
Mark Wholey - Artwork
Jeanette Wright - Vocals (background)
Rappin' 4-Tay - Performer

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1989)	Peak position
US Billboard 200^[9]	37
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)^[10]	9

Year-end charts

Chart (1989)	Position
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)^[11]	16

Certifications


Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)^[12]	2× Platinum	2,000,000^{^}
^{^} Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

^ ^a ^b
Contrary to the 1988 copyright date on the album, the following sources refer to January 1989 as the official release date for Life Is... Too Short:
- "Gold & Platinum". RIAA. Retrieved February 25, 2025.
- "Life is ... Too Short /T. Shaw. Detailed Record View". publicrecords.copyright.gov. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Alex Henderson. "Life Is...Too Short Too $hort". AllMusic. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
^ "Too $hort". Trouser Press. Retrieved February 26, 2025.
^ ^a ^b The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. p. 711.
^ ^a ^b MusicHound R&B: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1998. pp. 568–569.
^ "Too $hort Life is... Too $hort". RapReviews. May 2, 2003. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
^ Christgau, Robert (June 27, 1989). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved May 6, 2016.
^ "The 200 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. June 7, 2022. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
^ "Too Short Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
^ "Too Short Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
^ "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 1989". Billboard. Archived from the original on December 6, 2015. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
^ "American album certifications – Too Short – Life Is ... Too Short". Recording Industry Association of America.

[releasedate-1] Contrary to the 1988 copyright date on the album, the following sources refer to January 1989 as the official release date for Life Is... Too Short:
"Gold & Platinum". RIAA. Retrieved February 25, 2025.

"Life is ... Too Short /T. Shaw. Detailed Record View". publicrecords.copyright.gov. Retrieved August 3, 2025.

[2] "Gold & Platinum". RIAA. Retrieved February 25, 2025.

[3] "Life is ... Too Short /T. Shaw. Detailed Record View". publicrecords.copyright.gov. Retrieved August 3, 2025.

[AllMusic-2] Alex Henderson. "Life Is...Too Short Too $hort". AllMusic. Retrieved July 25, 2015.

[3] "Too $hort". Trouser Press. Retrieved February 26, 2025.

[RS-4] The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. p. 711.

[MH-5] MusicHound R&B: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1998. pp. 568–569.

[6] "Too $hort Life is... Too $hort". RapReviews. May 2, 2003. Retrieved July 25, 2015.

[7] Christgau, Robert (June 27, 1989). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved May 6, 2016.

[8] "The 200 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. June 7, 2022. Retrieved June 26, 2022.

[ac_Billboard200_Too_Short-9] "Too Short Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 23, 2014.

[ac_BillboardRandBHipHop_Too_Short-10] "Too Short Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 23, 2014.

[11] "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 1989". Billboard. Archived from the original on December 6, 2015. Retrieved November 15, 2021.

[United_StatesToo_ShortLife_Is_..._Too_ShortalbumCertRef-12] "American album certifications – Too Short – Life Is ... Too Short". Recording Industry Association of America.

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