Asher Paul Roth is not from any hood, project or turf but the Morrisville, Pennsylvania born Roth is currently signed to a joint venture between Scooter Braun's Schoolboy Music and Steve Rifkind’s SRC Records. His first professional release was in June 2008 when the DJ Drama and Don Cannon helmed "The Greenhouse Effect" mixtape was released for free via Roth’s website. Roth was featured on the cover of XXL magazine’s annual Top 10 Freshmen: Hip-Hop’s Class ’09 issue. Roth's debut album, Asleep in the Bread Aisle, was released April 20, 2009 to critical acclaim & a heards of drunken college students.
Roth's lyrics characteristically center around what has been called "middle-class minutiae." Roth's song "I Love College" is about partying with alcohol and marijuana, but includes innocuous lyrics such as "I can get pizza a dollar a slice" that have been identified as "far from threatening".
Roth has earned many comparisons to Eminem. So much so that he devoted a track on his album to the famed rapper, entitled "As I Em." About the comparison, Roth told Complex magazine:
Him and I are different artists. I think the music’s going to portray that as time goes on. The comparisons are just…it’s cool to be compared to Em, but he’s one of the number one selling artists of all time. I’d rather be compared to him than pretty much anybody else. I think content and everything we rap about is completely different. We’re different artists. We just happened to be under the same genre.
When asked about the comparison, Roth told Hiphopdx.com, "I think it's too easy. 'A white emcee with a sense of humor and a political side? Oh, let’s compare him to Em!' ... I have nothing but respect for him though; he made it possible for me to be here, he opened the doors, but we come from an entirely different inspiration." Also in a song entitled "Silly Boy" produced by Don Cannon he raps "That Eminem comparison is barely accurate/My rapping is as passionate, but lacks the psychopath of it". Roth has professed that Mos Def, The Roots, The Notorious B.I.G., and OutKast are some of his main hip-hop influences.
Roth has earned many comparisons to Eminem. So much so that he devoted a track on his album to the famed rapper, entitled "As I Em." About the comparison, Roth told Complex magazine:
Him and I are different artists. I think the music’s going to portray that as time goes on. The comparisons are just…it’s cool to be compared to Em, but he’s one of the number one selling artists of all time. I’d rather be compared to him than pretty much anybody else. I think content and everything we rap about is completely different. We’re different artists. We just happened to be under the same genre.
When asked about the comparison, Roth told Hiphopdx.com, "I think it's too easy. 'A white emcee with a sense of humor and a political side? Oh, let’s compare him to Em!' ... I have nothing but respect for him though; he made it possible for me to be here, he opened the doors, but we come from an entirely different inspiration." Also in a song entitled "Silly Boy" produced by Don Cannon he raps "That Eminem comparison is barely accurate/My rapping is as passionate, but lacks the psychopath of it". Roth has professed that Mos Def, The Roots, The Notorious B.I.G., and OutKast are some of his main hip-hop influences.
All & all...Asher Roth is a welcome addition to the already immensely diverse hip-hop culture. It's like seeing Robin Thicke's rapping lil' brother, lol. I give his album a thumbs up.
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