Too $hort’s Oakland Street Sign Goes Missing

Too $hort‘s street sign went missing from the Oakland corner where the city honored him.

Local reports placed the missing “Too Short Way” marker at the corner of Foothill Boulevard and High Street. Its cameras documented the sign’s absence. Oakland police treated the incident as a theft but have not provided details.

Oakland put up the marker after honoring the rapper in December 2022. The tribute covered three blocks of Foothill Boulevard, from High Street to 47th Avenue, beside the rapper’s former school, Fremont High.

The December 10, 2022 celebration brought Ice Cube, Mistah F.A.B. and Sway Calloway to Fremont’s gym. The Pittsburg High School marching band played Too $hort’s music as the crowd celebrated his place in the city’s history.

Then-Mayor Libby Schaaf and Councilmember Noel Gallo presented the city’s proclamation. Oakland also named that date “Too $hort Day.”

At the ceremony, he recalled listening to East Coast rap on long walks and wanting to tell Oakland’s stories in the same way.

When he addressed the crowd, the rapper made clear that he saw the day as a celebration of Oakland, not just himself. Fans followed him outside to see the new sign in the rain.

“This moment is not mine,” he said at the unveiling, according to KQED’s coverage. “This moment is Oakland, California.”

Too $hort used the occasion to announce plans to work with Oakland Unified School District, Affect The Youth and Fremont High to bring back marching bands and music programs.

That location held more than just his name on a pole. In an SFGATE interview, he described Fremont as the meeting point for friends who made tapes and then sold them around the neighborhood. He had moved to Oakland from Los Angeles as a teenager.

He also said he wanted young people to see that artists who faced the same hurdles had walked those streets and attended those schools. The honor was meant to offer them a path to imagine for themselves.