"Right now hip hop likes people that step outside the box" says veteran MC Too Short.

The Bay Area rap icon should know, he’s made a living going against the grain and toeing the line of acceptability throughout his almost 30 year career.

Now gearing up to release his nineteenth studio album No Trespassing the Oakland legend sat down with BET.com for a candid interview discussing his career, his perception in the media, as well as dropping some valuable advice to the new school of rappers and his veteran peers.

A forefather to the Northern California hip hop scene, Short keeps an ear to the street and recognizes what the future holds for rap heads in the Bay. The seasoned wordsmith can appreciate the attention grabbing methods practiced by the latest class of Bay Area artists, Lil B, Kreayshawn, and V-Nasty. While understanding his role in influencing the Based God and the brash White Girl Mob affiliates, Short Dawg isn’t an advocate of everything the young stars promote.

"I can't really agree with everything Lil B says but I kind of agree with his approach to what he's doing," Short admits. "It's just for shock value mostly but somehow it ended up getting him paid." 

Like Lil B, Too Short fully understands how pushing the limits of what's acceptable can some times lead to issues. Short recently came under fire for some ill-advised remarks he made during an XXLmag.com interview, that he now says was taken out of context, the 45-year-old rhyme-slinger gave us some insight on why his name has become synonymous with longevity in hip hop, among other things.

"I'm telling all the youngsters, quit saying to the older rappers move out the way," says Short Dawg. "By the odds you’re going to fall off, old or young, you’re going to fall off it's a known fact, the numbers don't lie."

Experiencing his fair share of musical success over his thirty year career, the "Blow The Whistle" rapper feels that the veteran rap contingent should embrace the next wave of rap stars. Short attributes his own longevity to believing in a philosophy of passing the torch and adapting.

"With the OG's I'm like, why do you hate what they're doing? Are you mad because when you were his age, and your records were hot you couldn't get money like that because you didn't have endorsements and all the stuff they got now?"

Taking note of his "friends over foes" advice was rap new-schooler Wiz Khalifa who tapped the Bay Area repper for a feature on his buzzworthy third single "On My Level" off his 2011 gold-selling debut album Rolling Papers. The hit single charted at No. 52 on the Billboard Top 100 and peaked at No. 28 on the digital songs chart.

Marching to his own beat Short says he has no problem playing the mediator or setting an example for his music peers to follow.

"I don't bite into it either way,” Short declares. “I'm sitting there slapping both sides in the face. Shut up and watch what I do."

Too Short's nineteenth album No Trespassing will hit stores February 28

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