Too Short's ninth album is the moment he starts to fall off. Production is performed by Ant Banks, Too Short, Dangerous Crew, Shorty B, Pee-Wee, Spearhead X, L.A. Dre, B. Turner. Guests are Ant Banks, Baby D, Illegal, Dangerous Crew, 2Pac, Father Dom, MC Breed, Freddy B. The D.O.C. featured in the intro, uncredited, Pee-Wee performs under the name of Dangerous Crew alongside Ant Banks and MC Breed, also uncredited in the intro. Too Short maintains the exact same formula that led him to getting certifications, rankings, money, and notoriety: spittin' pimpin' bars on funky beats.
The production is incredibly and annoyingly generic, weak and shoddy, and Short delivers in a slow, syncopated, uninspired way. He doesn't seem to have the right energy, barely finding it after forty minutes in a solo piece, and reciting the rest of the time in monotonous rapping. "Cocktales", pun intended as a title track, has the best rhythm, and it's still not good. The rest is completely forgettable. The guests are discreet, among others, there's the seven / eight-year-old Baby D, while the Illegals make their debut as guests. MC Breed gets two stanzas on "We Do This", easily surpassing the lead rapper, then 2Pac closes the cut, proving to be far better than everyone else here, in one of his glory years.
Distributed by Jive, it reaches sixth place on the Billboard 200 and reaches the top of rap records (second consecutive LP to do so), selling over one hundred thousand physical copies in its first week, achieving gold in two months and platinum in two years. Consisting of 12 excessively long songs (except the last one, none are less than five minutes) for a total of 68 minutes of listening, it's his worst tape to date, devoid of noteworthy tracks due to a production that fails to enhance his rap style. 5/10.
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