Oakland, California Rap pioneer Too Short has had many associations throughout his 30-plus year career as an emcee. In the mid 1980s, Short and high school classmate Freddy B. started Dangerous Music, which would be the label that would subsequently co-release Short’s breakthrough Born To Mack album, along with its follow-up Life Is…Too Short.
In a new interview with DubCNN.com, Short explained Freddy’s current whereabouts, along with why the pair did not work together more regularly during the 1980s. “We were rap partners in high school and then immediately after high school, right before I hooked up with 75 Girls, he went to prison,” Short explained, referring to the label where he would gain regional fame. Short could not specify what Freddy’s charges were, but believed they were possibly drug-related. The longtime Jive Records rapper continued, “He went to prison and when he came out I was playing the 75 Girls stuff during that time frame, and he was like ‘Yeah, I want get down.'” Short involved his partner on early releases, as Short was taking indie releases to Jive/RCA Records and achieving international success. Of Freddy’s subsequent disappearance from Dangerous and Short albums, the rapper explained, “He went right back to jail again.” Into the mid-1990s, Short achieved stardom as a soloist, while also leading his Dangerous Crew, with Ant Banks, Shorty B, Pee-Wee and others. In 1995, the group’s studio debut along with Short’s own Cocktails released, as Freddy B returned from his latest prison stint. “By the next time he got out, I had been rapping for a while. We had the Dangerous Crew album, and Cocktails, and stuff like that.”
On Freddy’s current whereabouts, Too Short added, “I just recently found out [Freddy B is] in Sacramento, he’s a preacher, or a deacon doing some kind of congregation church thing.”
During the 2008 VH1 Hip Hop Honors, Too Short spoke of meeting Freddy B in 1981, during a Rap rivalry:
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DubCNN also interviewed Short about his current ties to Ant Banks and the Dangerous Crew.
RELATED: Too Short Details His Digital Presence, How His Sound Evolved Working With Lil Jon And Making The History Channel With E-40 [2012 INTERVIEW]
Ask him about Ant Banks!1! The man is way to talented to not be in the game right now.
Big Thangs was a West Coast classic
Hell Yeah Big Thangs was the shit I remember the day I bought it.
Big thangs still goes hard.. I still throw in the TWDY joints too those were the days mayne
Ant Banks!!
We wanna hear some real Boi-1-da shit not no fucking Ant Banks
you probably don’t know who ant banks is you big dummy
The dangerous crew had that classic timeless sound. some of the tracks are 20 years old and still sound current and crisp and clean. That’s real music.
Considering for a moment that Too $hort should perhaps partially thank Freddy for helping him jumpstart his career, it would be nice if $hort Dog made a considerable “donation” to Freddy B’s church…