I’m inviting the proverbial “shit storm” with this one, but I’m never one to go with the crowd. I’ve been hearing about this 21 year old white rapper, Asher Roth who is supposed to be the greatest thing since sliced white bread (no pun intended). So, being bored on a Saturday, I decided to give a couple of his songs a listen. I was left extremely unimpressed. Asher Roth sounds like Eminem if Eminem didn’t have great word play, an incredible flow and off the wall subject matter that makes you rewind the track saying “Wtf did he just say?” Also, Roth is missing Eminem’s range: Em’s ability to go from angry Em to crazy Em to Funny Em to somber and sober Em all on the same track. Roth has this almost monotone way of droning on and on over a beat using elementary rhyme adlibs. Wow, he can rhyme a word with itself. Outstanding…NOT. Quite honestly, he’s boring and not as clever as people make it out to be. Changing the tone and inflection in your voice is a very important part of being a rapper, Roth doesn’t do that. I know what you’re thinking. But Kriss, Roth is just starting off. Okay, I understand that but I remember hearing Eminem’s old stuff and trust me, he was killing it back then. Maybe Roth will get there, but to hear people say that his lyrics are “Top of the game” and “Just sick” makes me think that these are people who aren’t used to hearing lyricists. I remember hearing Eminem say “A brainiac, with a cranium packed full of more uranium than a maniac Saudi Arabian” and “I strike a still pose and hit you with some ill flows/that don’t even make sense, like dykes using dildos” on the song Any man. I had to pause and rewind the tape at least 10 times. Never got the urge to do that with Roth’s stuff.
I can explain the Asher Roth phenomenon in two ways:
He’s white. This is not meant to be demeaning or degrading to white people and I’m not saying they can’t be rappers. It just doesn’t happen very often. So when a white person displays any sort of ability to string together a couple of bars, they are given a certain amount of hype. Some deserved, some not. We’ve been down this road before. Vanilla Ice. Bubba Sparks. Paul Wall. Eminem. Out of those 4 names the only one that has proven to have longevity is Eminem…because he has skills. If a black college kid from the suburbs put out “Lark on my Go Cart” or “I Love College”, it might have gotten a few thousand hits on Youtube. The game is starving for white rappers so even those with mediocre skills get hype.
He makes music for stoners. When your mind is fried by weed, a lot of shit that is actually trash sounds good. I’m not speaking from experience, because I don’t smoke. But I do drink and I’m making the educated guess that Asher Roth makes good weed music like Shane’s in Baltimore makes good drunk food. As long as you are under the influence of some other substance this shit sounds awesome. Right now I’m almost a month into Lent with zero alcohol. I’m too sober to be swayed into believing this kid is half as awesome as they make him sound
Most of his fans are casual Hip Hop/Rap listeners. If you are a casual listener of Hip Hop/Rap, meaning you think Lil Wayne, Young Jeezy, Rick Ross and Plies are lyrical geniuses, then Asher Roth is the knight in shining armor to save Hip Hop. For those of us who know that Muddy Waters isn’t a new show on the Discovery Channel, this kid is mediocre at best. This article here does a good job (while it is heavy on the hate) of breaking down Roth’s style and why his lyrics really don’t meet the threshold test of a true Hip Hop fan.
Inevitably someone’s going to respond “But He can rap better than you”. Okay, this is probably true. I don’t claim that I can rap and honestly, I don’t want to. But just because Roth is better at it than me, doesn’t mean I can’t say he’s nothing more than average. Hell, Kwame Brown can probably beat me one on one in basketball. But we all know, Kwame Brown is one of the highest paid bums in the league. Some other excuses I know I’m bound to hear:
“There’s no one else lyrical in the game right now” - I hate this argument. For this to hold any weight, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Common, Jay-Z, Nas and this guy named Reggie Noble would all have to be dead and no longer making music. Reggie dropped Red Gone Wild within the last 2 years and it was classic Redman (For some reason he just didn’t get the promo he should have). Nas dropped Untitled last December and that was an instant classic. Just because someone is new, doesn’t mean you can only judge them on whoever else is new. Yeah, Roth might be the leading candidate in the freshman class…but that just means this draft class isn’t anything to write home about or break out the top dollars for.
“He doesn’t rap about bitches and violence, he’s fresh” – Bullshit. That is what this argument is. Roth raps about smoking weed, fucking chicks and drinking. Young Jeezy raps about selling drugs and while Roth raps about taking drugs. It’s the same subject matter, just a different point of view (one from the view of the supplier, the other from the consumer). Also, critics of “violence” in rap need to understand that music is about expressing yourself and if you grew up in the projects surrounded by drugs, violence and loose women…that’s what you’re going to talk about. No, it’s not always pretty but the truth is…it’s what’s happening in some parts of America. I’m convinced that if Edgar Allen Poe was alive today, was black and transformed some of his works into rap, he’d be labeled a menace to society and not a literary genius.
All that said, Roth will end up getting a nice following and he’ll be on the scene for at least 18 months if he doesn’t evolve his game. You can get a record deal and sell a pretty good amount of records with your first album on a gimmick in the rap game. Ask Soulja Boy. However, if there’s not serious substance there, then the gimmick will wear off and the next rap fad will come in and make you obsolete. Having a gimmick is just as much a part of getting into the music industry as being able to hold a tune. Not having a gimmick is what keeps your favorite underground artist…underground. Fortunately for Roth, he has a gimmick. He’s a white guy who raps and doesn’t sound like this idiot. But like I said, gimmicks only get you in the door, skills keep the door open. Maybe I’m wrong and Asher Roth will pull an Eminem and gain acceptance. But right now, he’s only half as good as people make him out to be.
One of the first guest we had on the Insanity Check podcast was my old roommate Jaxx. Jaxxamus Prime aka Jaxx hails from Baltimore, MD with two engineering degrees. After moving to L.A. to work a normal 9 to 5, Jaxx rediscovered his love of hiphop and disdain for it’s current state. During our “interview” with him (back when his name was “J-Titty”), he told us his mix tape was coming soon…well, it’s been a year but it’s finally here. Jaxx’s mixtape “The Death of Jay Titty”. Please check it out and leave some feedback. Personally, I think its hot. My personal favorite is “Never Goin Down” over the ESPN Sportscenter beat.
