Todd Shaw, aka Too $hort
c/o Zomba Label Group
Zomba House
165-167 High Rd.
London
NW10 2SG
United Kingdom
Dear Mr. Shaw,
I feel as though I owe you an apology, for I have been woefully unaware of how prolific your output of music has been over the past two decades. As I grew up in Oakland, I heard your music everywhere -- 90 percent of the time this was at school, repeated by friends and classmates at every opportunity they got to demonstrate the amount of our rhymes they had memorized.
I have not followed the world of music much over the years, but was waxing nostalgic about your early work when I saw a mention of you on a celebrity gossip site. Unfortunately, this site was making reference to paparazzi not recognizing you as you exited the location of a music event. Then just today I saw a piece about you in the Chronicle, and was made aware of how much catching up I have to do: you have been keeping busy!
I hope you will take it as a compliment when I tell you that you remind me of Elton John in some ways. Like Elton, you have been constantly working, and apparently not simply for the glory of being in the public eye. You are true to your own style, and also stay current with trends in music and culture. I read recently that Elton wants to collaborate with a “hip-hop” artist. While I understand that your music does not quite fall into that genre, I think that you and Elton could make an interesting team. I’ll be first in line for the single.
Truly,
Liz Mann
