''Cocktails'' is the ninth solo studio album by American rapper

Too Short Todd Anthony Shaw (born April 28, 1966), better known by his stage name Too Short (stylized as Too $hort), is an American rapper. A pioneer of West Coast hip-hop, Shaw was among the first acts to receive recognition in the genre during the late ...

. It was released on January 24, 1995, via

Jive Records Jive Records (later stylized as JIVE Records) was a British-American independent record label founded by Clive Calder in 1981 as a subsidiary of the Zomba Group of Companies, Zomba Group. In the US, the label had offices in New York City and Chic ...

—making it his sixth LP for the label. The recording sessions took place at Dangerous Music, at DARP Studios in Atlanta and at Battery Studios in New York. The album was produced by

the Dangerous Crew The Dangerous Crew was an American hip hop band formed by Oakland, California rapper and producer Todd "Too Short" Shaw. The Dangerous Crew consisted of both live musicians and rappers: Stuart "Shorty B" Jordan (bass, guitar, drums), Ramone "Pe ...

, B. Turner and L.A. Dre. It features

guest appearance The term guest appearance generally denotes the appearance of a guest in an artistic or pop-culture setting. The guests themselves (referred to as guest artists, featured artists, guest stars, or guest fighters, depending on context), are disting ...

s from

2Pac Tupac Amaru Shakur (; born Lesane Parish Crooks; June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor, regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all tim ...

Ant Banks Ant Banks (born Anthony Banks, May 16, 1969), is an American record producer and rapper from Oakland, California. Biography Anthony Banks was born in Oakland, California on May 16, 1969. In band lessons at school, he learned to play classical ...

Baby DC Derek Coleman (born January 7, 1986), better known by his stage name Baby DC, is a former American child rapper from Oakland, California. He was signed to Too Short's record label Short Records, and Jive Records. Career Coleman, who first st ...

, Father Dom, Illegal, L.A. Dre,

MC Breed Eric Tyrone Breed (June 12, 1971 – November 22, 2008), better known as MC Breed, was an American rapper best known for his singles " Ain't No Future in Yo' Frontin'", which peaked at #66 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and " Gotta Get Mine" (fe ...

, Old School Freddy B, and the rest of the Dangerous Crew. The album debuted at number six on the ''Billboard'' 200 and atop of the

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...

chart, with the first-week sales of 101,000 copies in the US. It received Gold certification by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

on March 27, 1995, and was certified Platinum on January 6, 1997. Its

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

, " Cocktales", made it to number 69 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, number 43 on the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

and number 3 on the

Hot Rap Songs Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by '' Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stat ...

charts.

Track listing

;Sample credits *Track 7 contains a sample of "Disco to Go" written by George Clinton and

William Collins William Collins may refer to: Arts * William Collins (poet) (1721–1759), English poet * William Collins (painter) (1788–1847), English landscape artist * William Lucas Collins (1815–1887), English author and clergyman of the Church of Engla ...

and performed by

the Brides of Funkenstein The Brides of Funkenstein were an American soul and funk girl band, originally composed of singers Dawn Silva and Lynn Mabry. History Previously background singers for Sly Stone, singer of Sly and the Family Stone, Lynn Mabry and Dawn Silva jo ...

. *Track 11 contains a portion of the composition "

Funky Worm "Funky Worm" is a song by American funk group the Ohio Players, from their album ''Pleasure''. It peaked at number one on the U.S. ''Billboard'' R&B chart in 1973 and also peaked at number fifteen on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. ''Billboard'' ran ...

" written by Gregory Webster, Marvin Pierce, Bruce Napier, Clarence Satchell, Leroy Bonner, Marshall Jones, Ralph Middlebrooks and

Walter Morrison Walter may refer to: People and fictional characters * Walter (name), including a list of people and fictional and mythical characters with the given name or surname * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–19 ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cocktails (Album) 1995 albums Too Short albums Jive Records albums Albums produced by Ant Banks Albums produced by Too Short