Album number nine from
Too Short carries on his tradition of lyrics about the joys of pimping, rapped moderately to groovy, funky, jazzy beats. Delete the raps from
Too Short's tales, and you still have a commercial product. Spacy
Bootsy Collins-influenced vocals appear on some cuts, giving the funk an eerie feel.
Too Short likes naked, foxy ladies on his covers, and
Cocktails is no exception; he picked a beauty pictured with a snake coiled around her curvaceous brown body. Homie
Ant Banks appears on "Can I Get a Bitch," and
2Pac,
MC Breed, and
Father Dom join him on "We Do This" -- some nice rappin' on this one. "Coming Up Short" catches
Too Short at his pimpingest best, spitting out mack lyrics to a funky-azz beat like an ol'-skool Chicago pimp. A female vocalist changes the pace on "Things Changes," adding some emotive vocal runs;
Baby D, who sounds like he's seven, appears like a regular and gets off a tight rap that belies his age.
Too Short is all geeked on "Paystyle," a mini macking fable and his best rap on the set. On the last track, "Sample the Funk," he acknowledges the creators of funk:
James Brown,
George Clinton,
Bootsy Collins,
Johnny "Guitar" Watson,
the Ohio Players, and so on. According to
Too Short and his homies, pimping is an all-American game, and they praise the nefarious endeavor on every track. ~ Andrew Hamilton