Life Is... Too Short

Life Is... Too Short
Studio album by Too Short
Released	1988
Genre	Hip hop [1]
Length	54:52
Label	Dangerous Music Jive RCA
Producer	Too Short R. Austin T. Bohanon Al Eaton
Too Short chronology
Born to Mack (1987) Life Is... Too Short (1988) Short Dog's in the House (1990)

Life Is... Too Short (stylized as Life Is... Too $hort) is the fifth studio album by American rapper Too Short. It was first released in 1988 via Dangerous Music ^{[2] [3] [4]} and re-released on January 31, 1989, ^{[1] [5]} through Jive Records. 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	[1]
MusicHound R&B: The Essential Album Guide	[4]
RapReviews	7.5/10 [6]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[3]
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

No.	Title	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"	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"	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

1. Alex Henderson. "Life Is...Too Short Too $hort". AllMusic. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
2. "Too $hort". Trouser Press. Retrieved February 26, 2025.
3. The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. p. 711.
4. MusicHound R&B: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1998. pp. 568–569.
5. • "Gold & Platinum". RIAA. Retrieved 2025-02-25.
   • "Billboard - February 25, 1989" (PDF). worldradiohistory.com. Retrieved 2025-02-25.
   • "Billboard - March 18, 1989" (PDF). worldradiohistory.com. Retrieved 2025-02-25.
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.
9. "Too Short Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
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.
12. "American album certifications – Too Short – Life Is ... Too Short". Recording Industry Association of America.