Too $hort shares his first ever tour with Eazy-E

 Too $hort is an often overlooked figure in hip-hop but was integral to the growth of West Coast hip-hop. Although the likes of Ice-T and NWA were paving the way in Southern California during the 1980s, Too $hort (real name Todd Shaw) was making a seismic impact in the North of the state.

Too $hort was a prominent figure in Oakland, and under the independent label 75 Girls Records And Tapes, he released his debut album, Don’t Stop Rappin’, and from there, continued to grow. With projects such as Born To Mack to Short Dog’s In The House and Cocktails, Shaw has put out an unfathomable amount of music and, as a result, was invited to go on tour with the Ruthless Records founder and N.W.A. member Eazy-E.

In an interview with 247HH, Too $hort spoke about going on tour with NWA in 1989. It was the group’s first tour and included supporting acts such as JJ Fad, Kid N Play, Salt-N-Pepa and, of course, Too $hort.

Speaking about the 1989 series of shows, Shaw detailed, “I always remember the first tour, which was an Eazy-E and NWA tour [for] Straight Outta Compton. It was their first time going on tour, it was my first time going on tour.”

Comparing it to the present, Shaw explained, “I’m pretty sure if you take the newest hottest groups right now and you send them out on the road for the first time, all the kids will go and sell out arenas, and they’ll [the fans] will be like, ‘Oh my god I can’t beIive I’m f*cking seeing Drake for the first time ever!’ It was that kind of vibe where they couldn’t belie that Too $hort and N.W.A. were really in their city on stage.”

He added, “To get that reaction from the crowd, I would have to say, is like f*cking for the first time. I’ve never done it, but it’s probably like the first shot of heroin. It’s like a high that you get addicted to, and I have been high on that shit ever since.”

Detailing how wild the tours were, Shaw recalled, “We were just young and f*cking wild as you can be. It was every night. I was on tour with Eazy-E! Part of his show was telling the crowd what hotel we were staying at. He told 15,00…20,000 people every night where we were staying. That alone can give you ideas about what the f*ck was happening!”

You can hear more Too $hort stories about touring with Eazy-E in the video below.