Gettin' It (Album Number Ten)

Getting’ It was the last of the string of impeccable albums Too $hort made with his posse, the Dangerous Crew, before “retiring.” He eventually returned in 1999, but many fans claimed that his classic sound ended with Gettin’ It, the last album that featured Dangerous Crew producer Shorty B., who, along with Ant Banks, gave $hort’s mid-‘90s work its trademark wallop. Shorty B. produced the album’s title cut, which $hort claims as one of his “essential” songs. He kicks things off with a celebration of successful life of West Coast hustling: “You see I got all my game from the streets of California / Young millionaire with no high school diploma.” Gettin’ It features some of $hort’s most unusual and atmospheric beats, particularly “Pimp Me” and the Ant Banks-produced “That’s Why.” The appearance of George Clinton and his P-Funk cohorts on the hazy “I’ve Been Watching You (Move Your Sexy Body)” is a mark of how far $hort had come in ten albums. He had always advocated playing his own funk over sampling the work of his predecessors, and with Gettin’ It $hort proved that his long-honed technique had won the respect of his heroes.