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2,729 posts, aka Joey Jeff Productions
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Real Good Article
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/160...her_roth.jhtml
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MC is the living, breathing example of 21st-century hip-hop culture, in Bigger Than the Sound.
By James Montgomery
Mar 25 2009 7:50 AM EDT
Asher Roth is a translucent MC from the suburbs of Pennsylvania who grew up listening to the Dave Matthews Band, enrolled in West Chester University with the idea of pursuing a career in elementary education and dresses like it's eternally laundry day. He raps about weed and MILFs and beer pong. He is sort of like the hip-hop equivalent of CollegeHumor.com
None of those things are the thing about Asher Roth, though I suspect all of them have something to do with what happens whenever I ask real hip-hop fans and critics about him — they sort of get quiet, kind of look at the ground and mutter something like, "Yeah ... he's ... yeah." Roth is basically everything these people are supposed to despise about hip-hop today. By his own admission, he has very little street credibility, and he has paid very few dues, yet he already has a crossover hit and has been the subject of several dozen "Next Big Things" pieces (including our MCs to Watch series). He raps about goofy things like Teddy Ruxpin and pizza, he doesn't have a thuggish bone in his body, and his lyrics have the depth of a kiddie pool.
And yet none of those things should really matter. Because no matter how hard people want to hate Asher Roth, no matter how quick people are to dismiss him as some sort of bed-headed media construct, they really shouldn't. Because here's the thing about Asher Roth: He is proof that hip-hop has won.
For years, detractors have tried to pass off hip-hop as music made "by a people for a people." This is terrible, and it sort of makes my head hurt, because it's simply not true. I grew up in the suburbs of Orlando, Florida, and I knew plenty of white kids who bought nothing but hip-hop, who lived, breathed and ate it, despite never having witnessed one-tenth-of-one-thousandth of the stuff N.W.A or Biggie were talking about. There has also been an oft-quoted mystery statistic that says "70 percent of people who buy rap music are white," though it's never really been verified and is perhaps best left alone. Because, now, thanks to Asher Roth, we don't need shady statistics. We have definitive proof: Hip-hop is the soundtrack to suburbia.
He is the living, breathing example of 21st-century hip-hop culture. He grew up in the kind of place where — conventional wisdom goes — rap music dare not tread. And yet, here he is: a lanky, college-educated white kid who not only discovered the music, but ditched school to pursue a career in it and somehow ended up under the tutelage of Steve Rifkind, the dude responsible for the careers of the Wu-Tang Clan and Mobb Deep.
And this has less to do with the fact that Roth is white — a hurdle that doesn't seem to exist in the wake of Eminem — as it does with the fact that he is unapologetic about who he is and where he's from. Unlike Em, who Roth is rather lazily compared to (although, yes, the two do sound alike), Asher grew up in idyllic conditions. He did not have to battle and scrap to earn his stripes. He did not have to fight for credibility. There was no hustling or grinding. Basically, Roth just went to college. What you see is what you get.
He makes no attempts to boost his street cred or add dramatic, "Scarface"-ish flourishes to his upbringing. He's a suburban kid who fell in love with hip-hop — just like millions upon millions of other suburban kids. The rest — the attention, the hit, the fame — just sort of happened. And this is important, because if we are to really believe that hip-hop has conquered the world, has invaded every crevice of our culture, then we need to realize that rappers can be born anywhere. There is not a manual, there is not a "build-your-own" MC kit. Stuff like background and credibility and machismo don't matter one bit. Talent does.
And Roth is plenty talented. So much so that he seems to go out of his way to hide his gifts. He peppers his deft lyrical touches with boner jokes, litters the colorful stories he spins with weed references and odes to intoxication (this is basically "I Love College"). If anything, he's trying very hard to hide behind the whole "stoned roommate" shtick, for reasons not really clear to me (except that maybe he really is someone's stoned roommate).
After I saw him last week at South by Southwest, I wrote that "there's no denying that Roth was the biggest star ... by a mile. Whether or not he chooses to seize the opportunities available to him remains to be seen." Having thought about him for a few days since, I still believe that to be true. But perhaps he doesn't have a choice in the matter. He needs to seize those opportunities, because he's also carrying the entire future of hip-hop on his skinny little shoulders. He's the Hip-Hop Goodwill Ambassador, and he has to succeed.
And you thought college was tough, Ash.
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Last edited by PRPS; 03-25-2009 at 04:46 AM..
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16,725 posts, Erin Go Bragh
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"because he's also carrying the entire future of hip-hop on his skinny little shoulders"
Now thats some steaming pile of horse ****.
If anything its proof Hip Hop lost, its become a joke.
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6,144 posts, 1 Million Hustles
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What a fluff piece.
MTV is really trying to hype this kid up. I really don't think hes special it's just mainstream America craving someone safe (read: white) and MTV is all about it. If anything Wale is carrying to torch
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80 posts, Registered User
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by noblewordz
"because he's also carrying the entire future of hip-hop on his skinny little shoulders"
Now thats some steaming pile of horse ****.
If anything its proof Hip Hop lost, its become a joke.
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Its not proof that hip-hop has "won" or "lost" because a genre of music and a culture doesn't win or lose. Its an invalid question from the get go. Proof that hip-hop has invaded suburbia? A sign, yeah, but Hip-hop invaded the suburbs WAY before this guy came out. If it took a white nerdy rapper to get you to realize that, you weren't paying attention.
What everyone needs to realize is that hip-hop will never die, or lose. It will evolve, just like EVERY OTHER MUSIC GENRE. (And Asher Roth won't have anything to do with it)
Last edited by Akronat; 03-25-2009 at 05:31 AM..
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6,099 posts, *From The Ground Up*
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I know a lot of people don't like Asher Roth but to me it's a sign of hope.......
Lyricists (that can make hits) are about to create diversity in the game again. Lupe was a spark that proved you can be a good lyricist and still make hits like "Superstar." He went GOLD off of 1 Hit & credibility for being good. There's artists that put out 2 and 3 hits but the album still bricks hard as hell because they made some nice songs but they're not good. Which also explains Soulja Boy, for a 1 Hit wonder he's had 4 Top 40 Billboard Hits because he stands out and knows how to put together a song very well which is something a lot of cats on this board are ignorant about.......
If Asher goes GOLD, it's a great sign.......
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15,833 posts, Moderator
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I think if Eminem never exsisted, I'd think Asher Roth was dope, but because they sound so much alike and a bottled for the same market, I can't respect this dude's music.
I'm too much of an Em fan, and at the same time not enough of a white rapper fan to give this dude a pass. He's everything people made Em out to be.
Two things that annoy me are people who are positive out of ignorance, and people who are negative out of bitterness. People who are neither usually get along with me and agree with most of what I say. People who are one of the 2 think I'm the other.
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6,099 posts, *From The Ground Up*
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^^^Minus the personality.......
Everything about Eminem was interesting, his character, his music, his story, etc.......
They even made a movie about Em's come-up basically.
Well, never mind cuz they made Asher's too......."Malibu's Most Wanted".......
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357 posts, Registered User
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Haha, Malibu's most wanted...ish...
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8,283 posts, Registered User
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by MysterE
What a fluff piece.
MTV is really trying to hype this kid up. I really don't think hes special it's just mainstream America craving someone safe (read: white) and MTV is all about it. If anything Wale is carrying to torch
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Co-Sign. He disapointed me w/ the Chillin record though i hope it aint his 1st single.
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Originally Posted by REAL8
FP: "e-rep + no life + high post counts = super producer"
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What I'm Listening To:
Wale: Mixtape About Nothing
Lil Wayne: Carter 3
Nas: The Nigger Tape
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29,597 posts, imod isample iboombap
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Asher Roth is only proof that the Beastie Boy hip hop formula will always wok for college kids
lol @ malibus most wanted
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Last edited by Xabiton; 03-25-2009 at 10:04 AM..
Reason: Automerged Doublepost
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