In business parlance, Too Short has mastered the art of "branding." His pleasure cruise began in the mid '80s with nasty cassettes sold out of the back of his Cadillac Brougham. He simplified his message-concentrate on bass, booty, bitches, rolling hard-and evangelized it well. Little has changed except the channels of distribution. On his first major label release Born to Mack, the ultra-low bass and frank subject matter ("Freaky Tales," "Mack Attack," "Party Time") elevated Too Short to legend status in the San Francisco Bay Area and far beyond.