Too $hort Gets EDM Makeover With Diplo's Help

Too $hort is jumping into the EDM game ... and Diplo is the man helping him make the leap.

Sources close to the legendary rapper tell TMZ ... $hort has always been a fan of EDM. Diplo has spent years mentoring Too $hort, helping him break into the electronic music scene ... with the two performing together at Stagecoach over the years.

But Diplo was waiting for the perfect track to make their crossover official ... and he finally found it with Nigerian rapper and singer Kah-Lo.

The result is "Money Calling," a new collaboration set to appear on Diplo's upcoming album.

And they certainly didn't debut it quietly ... Too $hort performed the track for the first time Sunday at Diplo's Run Club event in San Francisco, where a whopping 20,000 people showed up to run with the DJ.

We're told the song is already generating major buzz ... and Too $hort isn't slowing down his EDM takeover. Sources tell TMZ Too $hort isn't leaving Hip-Hop behind but is excited about the new adventure with EDM.

Too $hort tells TMZ, "I've been rocking with Diplo for a few years now doing some shows and getting to know him and I knew that when he and I actually cooked up some music, we will come up with something crazy and that's what we got here with Money Calling."

He's set to headline Escape, a 2-day EDM fest, in San Bernardino on Halloween, sharing the stage with some of the biggest names in electronic music while testing out more of his crossover sound.

And with Diplo and Too $hort cooking up this kind of chemistry ... an entire collaborative album would be one hell of a next move.