There was a point when Too $hort could see the finish line. After spending decades building one of Hip Hop’s most enduring catalogs, the Oakland legend envisioned his SIR TOO $HORT series as something resembling a farewell. But for an artist who has been recording and performing since his teenage years, actually stepping away proved to be more complicated than simply announcing it.

That reality sits at the center of SIR TOO $HORT VOL. 2 (DRINK & SMOKE), a project that reunited $hort with longtime collaborator Lil Jon while also featuring production contributions from Jon’s late son, DJ Young Slade. Their sessions became far more productive than originally planned, yielding what $hort estimated was enough material for another album. It's part of an even larger creative stockpile: Between 2020 and 2026, he says he recorded roughly 50 to 60 solo songs in addition to nearly 50 records with Mount Westmore.

Rather than whittle years of work down to a single carefully timed release, $hort divided the solo material across four volumes, each built around a different side of his musical identity. The fourth installment, he revealed, was already recorded before the first volume was released and will venture into more socially conscious, introspective, and “grown man” territory without abandoning the Too $hort persona audiences have known for generations.

In conversation with REVOLT, $hort discussed that creative philosophy, what separates Lil Jon from a traditional beat maker, and his commitment to preserving Slade’s legacy. He also explained why his planned farewell may no longer feel much like one, teased conversations about future collaborations, and revealed that Mount Westmore is sitting on a fully mixed and mastered 15-song project that he wants Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, and E-40 to finally release.

Your single “Out Tonight” pairs you with King George, who comes from the Southern soul world. You’ve always been able to move between different regional sounds without losing what makes a Too $hort record sound like Too $hort. What did you hear in King George that made that collaboration make sense?

Too $hort: People don’t know that he’s not really new to the game. He’s had a recording deal before and, you know, he’s been around. He’s [been] a friend of mine for many years. So, you know, I just put the play together... Jon had a vision, but then, you know, we’re all artists that know what we want. And then King George had a vision, and they just kind of met in a cool space where the song started sounding really good. It had a couple of other options that didn’t happen, but the final version is dope as f**k.

You and Lil Jon went into the sessions expecting to make far less music than you eventually made. After 30 years of working together, what does Jon understand about your voice and your pocket that another producer might not?

Well, he’s a producer, which isn’t always distinct from beat makers. You know, somebody who just programs beats and hands over the beat to the artist, and the artist takes it from there.

Lil Jon is the actual producer who suggests things about subject matter, or if he doesn’t like the way the hook is going, he’ll adjust that. Or if there’s a certain part in the song that something needs to happen [differently], he’ll make that happen. He’s very vocal about making a good song.

And I think he probably wasn’t expecting what I did in 2026, you know what I mean? He wasn’t really expecting that, so when he unexpectedly heard what I was doing to the beats that he gave me, then that motivated him to go, “Hey, what you want to do? You want to do a whole project?” And I’m like, “Send the beats!” So, we ended up doing way more than we set out to do. We even did enough for probably two albums, and it’s just a mutual respect, man.

You talked about wanting this music to become part of Slade’s legacy. When you think about the records he actually touched, what was he bringing into those sessions creatively that you want people to recognize as uniquely his?

Well, I think based on the quality of the production, I feel like he learned a lot from his father... When the offspring get to it, they put their own personal touch on, you know, beyond what they were handed down talent-wise. They find their own way.

And I think that Jon really respected his son, his son’s craft, and he felt okay with just sending me beats from either one of them, beats that they collabed on or whatever... The only thing he mentioned was like, “I’m really trying to, you know, get his name out there and keep his legacy intact,” and I’m just on board with that. I just want to be a part of holding that legacy down.

You’ve said the SIR TOO $HORT project is a four-part series. Why did this chapter of your career go that route with four different volumes?

Well, the only reason why it’s four volumes is because from 2020 until 2026, about a five-, six-year period, I recorded a lot of songs, like a lot. And not just solo songs; I recorded a lot of my Westmore songs... And then COVID hit, and there was nothing to do. So I started recording a lot. And when I looked up, I had recorded about 50, 60 songs solo, [and] another almost 50 songs with my Westmore. And I just felt rejuvenated as far as songwriting and recording.

The four-part series came from having too many songs... And it’s just going to be like all this f**king music going to waste. And the way music is now, people are digesting music a lot faster. So I’m like, it’s a f**king waste of time to sit here and drop an album for a 58-year-old artist every three, four f**king years trying to get it perfect. There’s no more perfect.

So it was my executive decision to, like... We’re not going to rush them out. We’re going to put them out at a cool pace, but we’re going to let everybody know this is a four-part series of some s**t that was done before we even started a release of Volume 1. Volume 4 was already recorded. I need them to know that.

You’ve also been clear that Todd Shaw usually doesn’t show up in the rap persona. Being that you’ve said Volume 4 takes a more serious approach, how close does that final volume get to that?

I really had a vision for each volume. Volume 1 was intended to be really grimy, underground-sounding. It was supposed to sound like a mixtape and not like the polished final project, you know, that you would want to put out. And it was just like an appetizer.

Volume 2 was to let them know, if you thought Volume 1 was all I had, I got this whole project with Lil Jon. I’m not bulls**tting... And then Volume 3, it’s really going to be an energetic follow-up to Volume 2. Volume 3 is not 100% produced by Lil Jon. It has a few Lil Jon-produced tracks on it, but it has that same energy.

So, Volume 4, purposely intended, is all of those songs that I’ve been making over the last five years that are, I guess you could call them grown-man songs, you could call them socially conscious, you could call them introspective to my real life or how I really feel about certain things in the world.

But it’s still Too $hort. It’s still a player... I’m doing something totally f**king different. I’m doing Too $hort. And you want me to do a new version of Too $hort, age-appropriate. And I’m like, “What the f**k is that?” Like, I don’t understand what that is. If you’re an artist with an image, what the f**k is age-appropriate?

I was really setting out for this to be like my farewell. But I’m still in the studio every day recording songs that sound really good. And I’m like, “How the f**k do I stop?” Jazze Pha calls me and goes, “When you finish with this s**t with Lil Jon, let’s do a project together.” I bump into Battlecat and tell him I’m really enjoying the project that you and Kurupt did together. I’m riding that s**t. He’s like, “Well, s**t, let’s do one together.”

I talked to Snoop the other day. And I’m like, “Dog, I feel like at this point in our career, we have nothing to lose. We should just collab with each other. Just do s**t.” And he goes, “Yeah, man, I want to make a whole album with Ant Banks.” I’m like, “Well, s**t, I’ll set it up.”

And I just think that as a musician, recording artist, music lover, how do you stop? So that’s all it is right now, man. It’s like, don’t stop.

You mentioned Mount Westmore, and you took “Good Coochie” out of the vault. Does that mean another project from the group is coming as well?

I just told you we recorded more than 45 songs. It was somewhere between 45 and 50 songs recorded, and we released 15 on the album and maybe a few snuck out in the universe some way or another. So we’re sitting on a 15-song project that is mixed, mastered, and just sitting on the shelf.

It’s not even really being paid attention to because my group members are so f**king rich. It’s not a financial thing with them.

It’s got to be the right time and the right place. And right now, I’m going to meet up with them in 48 hours, and I’m bringing all of them a reminder. I’m like, “Do you motherf**kers know who Mount Westmore is? Listen to this s**t that we did and put on the show.”

Like, quit f**king playing around, and let’s let these people have this s**t. We can’t be like... another rich motherf**ker who won’t give us the music [like] Dr. Dre. I’m like, we can’t do that. I don’t want the 2026 version. Give me the 10-year-ago version of Detox, and let’s f**king let me ride and s**t.

So, you know, I’m trying to convince these guys, like, give the people the music, man. F**k all that perfect release, you know, set up s**t, fuck all that s**t. Let’s give people the music.