Asher Roth (The BIG let down)
The Big Let down
If you are at all aware of the exchange about Asher Roth on the internet. You will be aware that Steve Rifikinds and his yes men at SRC painted him as the hot new hip-hop saviour. suburban kids took offense to him being compared to Marshall Mathers missing the point that the fact you make songs about different things doesn’t take away from the fact your voice quality sounds similar to an established act. But I overlooked these transgression and hoped that the marketing machine at SRC would deliver the breath of fresh air to the current stagnate state of hip-hop. Now I will say this album is solid and far from wack but the sound is a bit of a drag at times plus given the hype placed on Asher it is a bit of a disappointment. He will definitly do his numbers with the college/suburban/stoner crowd, I just think that the hype machine ruined how I experienced this album.
Here is my play by play
Lark on My Go KArt- This is by far my favorite song but that is because I love it when rappers do the whole left field braggadious rap song. The dusty production works on this one and his stoner lyrics kill it.
Blunt Cruising- is another solid stoner song. It would have been even doper if another person would have performed the hook possibly with a jamacian accent. The beat has a stoner rock feel to it. The rhymes are not his best because he is doing the whole humurous weed head thing, but it does sound a little phoned in. This song could have been great with a little more effort. Hide the Weed!
I Love College- This is the song meant used to create all of his buzz for the album besides the mixtape. The lead single for sleep in the bread Isle. I think it is ok for the crowd it is targeting i.e. the suburban college student and stoner rock fan. It works for his audience but since I am not in the demographic much of the songs charm is lost on me so I ignored it totally when the buzz began earlier on this.
La di Da- This is another solid album cut which I can see a video coming for in the future.
Be By Myself- This is solid album cut with ceelo green. I love the faux 60’s guitar riff and ceelo does his classic funky soul singer stick.
She don’t wanna- I hated this because it is an obvious reach for another pop single but it doesn’t have strong energy to carry it. I would say it fits in the overall sound of the album but this is meh(phoned it in)
Sour Patch Kids- This is Ashers attempt at a social commentary song. I hear the message but it just doesn’t sound or feel authentic for some reason but I do give him points for even going there. The production is kinda bland on this as well so it feels like it was phoned in.
As I EM- This is a solid response to all of the EM criticism. I love the beat this one it feels heart felt.
Lion roar- This is the worse song on the album to me the beat is weak and the subject is meh
Bad Day- This is one of my favorite cuts asher is at his best doing stuff like this and the driving funk pattern by Jazze Pha is on time and the hook is solid too.
His Dream- This hits so close to home so it gets mad love from me I am a sucker for personal subject matter and I feel like it is the perfect way to get to know an artist. Plus as I said the theme speaks to a condition that many of us have or will face on some level. bravo
Fallin- Is a solid cut but the hook doesn’t seem to fit. But the subject matter is great the beat is meh though. It is obvious that Asher is at his greatest when he writing about personal issues and things he cares about.
Perfectionest- It is ok but kinda bland and it sounds like another reach for radio play. The beat is nothing to write home about and you can tell it is a radio reach because it has an OG like Beanes on it plus the hook is typical for todays market though the autotuning is not as pronounced.
All in All like I said in the inital paragrah this is a solid album and a good summer driving album because even the phoned in stuff is tolerable. But it is a bit of a let down not because it is bad but because the hype machine kinda placed too high a standard for it. Also I would like to commend Mr. Roth on having consistant production throughout and solid instrumentation. This album has more in common with Devin the Dude than Eminem at the end of the day. So I think Asher got some vindication on that point.