Too Short
wasn't really banished to the underground by the major labels. It's more like he found a more welcoming home there, one where he could release pimp-slap hip-hop that lives up to the name of his underground imprint,
Dangerous Music
.
No Trespassing
is filled with it, strutting and threatening like both emo-rap and the women's rights movement never happened, but the cottage industry of rap-rock is noted by the veteran, as the guitar-grinding opener "What the Fuck" suggests
is considering getting some
Kottonmouth Kings
money. He's also going to teach the fan base a thing or two with the sound advice "You about as sorry as they come/They took you to a strip club and you bought up all the ones." Elsewhere, it's steeped-in-soul, old-school
Short
with the "keep it true" highlight "Respect the Pimpin'" with special guest
Snoop Dogg
, or even better, the killer single "I Got Caught" where convenient morality gets a singalong chorus. Girl got you down? "I'm a Stop" ("puttin' my thing up in ya") is the perfect pimp cure with
50 Cent
,
Devin the Dude
, and
Twista
all on the brutish assist, but when it comes to strip club music, all you need is
E-40
and a bleeping Bay Area beat to take "Money on the Floor" to the top of your table dance playlist. Those are all the elements for a
classic, but overstuffing knocks it down a peg, so don't think of this as your prize money maker, but above average with plenty of "high mileage," as the street walker aficionados like to say. ~ David Jeffries