Often, when public buzz for an album we haven’t checked out reaches critical mass, we commit to reviewing it before hearing a note. Not that we ever sweat bandwagons; we’re, of course, just as likely to trash it as praise it- We consider it our duty to run recon and report back to all of you who may be resisting the hype like we were, for whatever reason. If it sucks, we’ll protect you. And if it’s good, we’ll let you know it’s safe to go in.
Asher Roth’s album Asleep In The Bread Aisle is one such album at critical mass. I’ve been hearing his name dropped all over the place, and honestly, I didn’t know if he was being mentioned sarcastically as the new joke in town, or the next seriously big thing.
Asher Roth is a white rapper. Assumably an at least somewhat college educated one. This discovery brought forth nightmares of Dynamite Hack, that horrible, stupid Flobots song, and the very fucking lame Cool Kids. At best, I thought he might be an ironic genius, like Ben Folds, or good for a couple of tracks like Mickey Avalon.
Roth is pretty up front about the fact that the depth of his Hip Hop knowledge doesn’t run very deep- in the suburbs, The Temptations was the blackest shit he was exposed to growing up. And that’s where his legitimacy as an artist begins- he recognizes that he doesn’t fit the mold. So he doesn’t try to. He dresses like the white dude he is, and confidently creates his music for himself. And that’s why it works. He could wear baggy pants and play down the thirty mile distance between Morrisville and Philadelphia, or he could hire a bunch of hypemen with cool names to help him milk credibility from every orifice. But one important- and definitively Hip Hop- characteristic comes naturally to him: staying real.
His sample library is often painfully novice. The Trammps have been done to death; Rubber Band in particular was essentially retired after Hate It Or Love It. And Say It Ain’t So ain’t exactly a deep cut. Furthermore, there are a couple cheap rip-offs, such as the Lil’ Wayne Lollipop lift on the otherwise great She Don’t Want A Man. But Asher Roth does have genuine skills to back it all up. And talent can pull real art out of Hip Hop 101 tactics, just as a lack of talent can be the downfall of a scholar.
All in all, Asleep In The Bread Aisle is a surprisingly solid record. There are amazing highlights with great guest spots, such as the Gnarls Barkeley-esque tracks Bad Day and Be By Myself (featuring Jazze Pha and Cee-Lo, respectively) as well as album closer Fallin’ featuring John Mayer. But they just pile playability onto an already good base of unassisted compositions such as the anthemic Sour Patch Kids, and the feel good single of the summer I Love College:
I realize it may take more than the I Love College video to convince the naysayers and skeptics though, so here’s Be By Myself:
Asher Roth is sure to get shit from the thugs for being a white kid through and through, and he’s sure to get shit from the backpackers for not speaking on “the real shit” or engaging society. And he’ll get shit from people in general for not being Eminem. But the kid has got talent, and he’s a true artist, making music from his Anglo soul, for himself first. It’s evident in his music.
It’s safe to check out Asher Roth. We’re looking forward to seeing where he goes from here.
Asleep In The Bread Aisle
April 20th, 2009
SchoolBoy / SRC / Universal Motown
1. Lark On My Go-Kart
2. Blunt Cruisin’
3. I Love College
4. La Di Da
5. Be By Myself (w/ Cee-Lo)
6. She Don’t Want A Man (w/ Keri Hilson)
7. Sour Patch Kids
8. As I Em (w/ Chester French)
9. Lion’s Roar (w/ New Kingdom & Busta Rhymes)
10. Bad Day (w/ Jazze Pha)
11. His Dream (w/ Miguel)
12. Fallin’ (w/ John Mayer)
- 01. Lark On My Go-Kart
- 02. Blunt Cruisin'
- 03. I Love College
- 04. La Di Da
- 05. Be By Myself Feat. Cee-Lo
- 06. She Don't Wanna Man Feat. Keri Hilson
- 07. Sour Patch Kids
- 08. As I Em Feat. Chester French
- 09. Lion's Roar Feat. New Kingdom & Busta Rhymes
- 10. Bad Day Feat. Jazze Pha
- 11. His Dream
- 12. Fallin'
Eminem? Check. Mickey Avalon? Check. Why do we need this fuckin guy then?
I can’t believe that you actually wasted your time on this album. I could have told you what it was going to be like just after watching that retched “I Love College” video. I mean really “I am champion at beer pong”? That line along is reason enough to burn down the studio that even recorded this album.
i stand by my review. i generally hate novelty bands and white rappers, which this guy seems to be equal parts of at first glance. but he put a genuinely good record together.
cracker bought
from the two tracks above, he doesnt seem like a bad guy, but it doesn’t sound like he’s doing anything new, interesting, or different in any way shape or form. Is the album more of the same, or should I just keep listening to 311 and Phunk Junkeez?
you should by no means be listening to 311 at all. that’s completely unacceptable. if you haven’t played out your fatboy slim and beastie boys cds, go with them. i don’t mind if you don’t dig asher roth, but we don’t condone listening to 311 under any circumstances.
yeah, I can’t really get behind that idea either, but you get the point
and apparently by “i stand by my review,” i mean i’ll listen to johnny’s reason and drop it down half a star. fine. haha. but that’s still a hell of a lot better than the first impressions suggest.
Goddamnit… I hate what my fingers are about to confess, but this shit is actually pretty fucking addictive. Fucker invoked Razor Ramon before talkin shit Mariokart style. That’s glory.
yesss… vindication.
Album is pretty good considering the state of mainstream hip hop. He’s no eminem or even Crooked I or Reef Da Lost Cauze but he’s a hell of a lot more creative than Soulja Boy and that type of ringtone rap that has dominated recently.
wow.. so much better than i expected. shit
[...] we reviewed Asher’s album last month, we were pleasantly surprised to find it worth the rising hype, and picked this track in [...]
Hey Yo! Did this chi-CO!….say……. my name? Hey.. don’t sing it ,just…. bring it.
No for real, Asher Roth’s debut is by no means bad. In fact it’s fairly decent. BUT, the reviewer has been duped to believe that he is real. I am not saying that he isn’t but we will wait to se whether he really is. For instance, As I Em, while a good track was not required. How many people know this dude? For all the hype that you say he has, his popularity is INCREDIBLY limited even among the rap audience. INCREDIBLY. A lot of rap fans still don’t that Eminem is relapsing in 6 days. Same with Asher….Hardly do people know him. To me that song was ALL about name-dropping, something which he continued with awkward name dropping of Jay-Z a couple of times too. Even if people hadn’t thought of Eminem upon hearing him, they will now at the back of head store this piece of observation that Asher Roth and Eminem somehow go together in a rap conversation. This is where Asher has succeeded. By getting people to talk about him one way or another. And when you say that this legitimacy begins when he admits he doesnt fit this mold, THAT’S PRECISELY where his legitimacy might also be hurt by trying the all too obvious ‘I’m different-cool-more suburban-a fresh breathof air-nice guy’. Sorry, Lupe Fiasco has already taken that spot and plenty others are in queue. And while Ash definitely has talent, I’m not buying this gimmick he is pandering. The album seemed forced in a lot of parts and came of looking like an thesis where people just insert foot notes for the sake of showing that they can do research. Like the clumsy aggregate of disparate talent. Ash will have to do MUCH more in order to be legitimate to me.
If you’re giving a glowing review to this garbage, then I see absolutely no harm in listening to 311.
311 is garbage. Listen to sublime, incubus, or slightly stoopid if you insist on going there.
That’s pretty much all I have to contribute to this.
Yuck, Justin, 311’s better than all three of those bands combined, and I don’t even care for 311.