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*Release date: [[April 20]], [[2009]]<ref name=Billboard/>
*Release date: [[April 20]], [[2009]]<ref name=Billboard/>
*Label: [[Universal Motown]]
*Label: [[Universal Motown]]
*Sales: 757,383 copies
*Sales: 383 copies
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Revision as of 20:28, 30 August 2009

Asher Roth

Asher Paul Roth (born August 11, 1985) is an American rapper. He is currently signed to a joint venture between Scooter Braun's Schoolboy Music and Steve Rifkind’s SRC Records. His first professional release was on June 13, 2008 when the DJ Drama and Don Cannon-helmed The GreenHouse Effect Mixtape was released for free via Roth’s website Thedailykush.com. 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.[1]

Early life

Asher Roth was born and raised in Morrisville, a small town about 20 miles northeast of Philadelphia.[1][2][3] His mother, Elizabeth (née McConnell), is a yoga instructor, herbalist and tarot card reader, and his father, David Roth, is the executive director of a design firm.[4][5][6][7] He attended Pennsbury High School. Growing up, Roth was exposed to little hip-hop in his family, with his parents preferring "The Temptations, Earth, Wind & Fire ... Bruce Springsteen and Dire Straits."[8] According to Roth:

The first CD I ever bought was Dave Matthews Band's 'Crash'...That is how suburban I am...I finally got into hip hop in '98 when I heard the Annie sample with Jay-Z....When I wrote my 'A Milli' freestyle, that was me listening to 10 years of hip hop and not relating to it at all. Like, Damn I don’t sell coke. Damn, I don’t have cars or 25-inch rims. I don't have guns. I finally got to a point where I had the confidence to do this thing myself, and I was making music for me. And it turns out, a lot of people feel the same way I do.[9]

Asher has also stated that:

"I was always from the outside looking in," says Roth. "Hip-hop has always been very influential in the ‘burbs, [but] it’s just a matter of where we could relate to it. You find a lot of kids that are really confused. You look at them and they’re dressed out of character. They don’t look right. I figured out, I don’t have to dress this way, but I can still love hip-hop."[10]

Upon graduation, Roth entered West Chester University and became an Elementary Education major, while continuing to record verses over other peoples’ beats. During sophomore year, Roth posted some of his verses on his MySpace page and sent a Friend Request to Scooter Braun, an Atlanta-based promoter and former VP of Marketing for Jermaine Dupri's So So Def. One week after speaking to Braun, Roth flew down to Atlanta and was immediately signed by Braun, who subsequently became his manager.[8]

Career

After linking up with Braun, Roth moved to Atlanta to pursue a hip-hop career full-time. As industry buzz grew, Roth was courted by a number of labels, including SRC, Def Jam, Warner Bros. Records and Atlantic.[11] Roth would eventually sign a joint venture between Braun's Schoolboy Music and Steve Rifkind, chairman of SRC/Universal Records. On June 13, 2008, Roth put out his first professional release, the Don Cannon and DJ Drama-helmed The Greenhouse Effect, via the Internet. This resulted in Roth being the first white rapper to be featured on Drama and Cannon’s influential Gangsta Grillz series. He released his first studio album, titled Asleep in the Bread Aisle, on 20 April, 2009.

Style

Roth's lyrics characteristically center around what have been called "middle-class minutiae."[9] Roth's song "I Love College" is about partying with alcohol and marijuana, but includes fatuous lyrics such as "I can get pizza a dollar a slice"[9] that have been identified as "far from threatening".[9]

As he gained prominence, being a white performer in a predominantly black musical genre, 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."[2] 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".[12]

When asked about the comparison by Hiphopdx.com, Roth said, "I think it's too easy. 'A white MC 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."[13] In his song entitled "As I Em" produced by Don Cannon he raps "That Eminem comparison is barely accurate/My rapping is as passionate, but lacks the psychopath of it".[11]

In a interview with XXL Magazine, Eminem cosigned Asher. He had this to say when asked about the comparison:

"I haven't had a chance to, like, really get into everything, like, really get into what he's about, because I've only heard a couple songs. There was talk about people saying he sounded like me, and he was doing this and that and, you know, trying to take what I do and do it. You know, shit like that. I've heard things. But the stuff that I've heard from him honestly, which certainly isn't enough for me to make my own opinion and say, ‘Yeah, he does sound like me' or ‘No, he doesn't. But the couple of songs I've heard, I don't really think he does. You know what I mean? He's doing his own thing. I can respect it, too, because at the end of the day, I think he's dope".

[14]

Discography

Studio albums

Year Title Chart positions
U.S. 200 U.S. R&B U.S. Rap CAN UK
2009 Asleep In the Bread Aisle 5 5 3 31 38

Mixtapes

Singles

Year Song Chart positions Album
U.S. Hot 100 U.S. R&B U.S. Rap US Pop South Africa UK UK R&B CAN
2009 "I Love College" 12 116 18 19 34 26 8 53 Asleep in the Bread Aisle
"Lark on My Go-Kart" 1 95 — — — — — — —
"Be by Myself" (ft. Cee-Lo) 67 — — — — — — —
"She Don't Wanna Man" (ft. Keri Hilson) — — — — — — — —
"As I Em" (ft. Chester French) [15] — — — — — — — —
  • 1 - Promo Single

Awards

References

  1. ^ a b c Crosley, Hillary (2009-02-05). "MC Asher Roth Readying Major-Label Debut". Billboard (magazine). Retrieved 2009-03-05.
  2. ^ a b "Asher Roth is on his way to hip hop stardom". Philadelphia Weekly (newspaper). 2009-04-15. Retrieved 2009-04-14.
  3. ^ Sacks, Adam (2009-04-01). "Asher Roth Raps Suburbia, Campus Life". The Jewish Daily Forward. Retrieved 2009-06-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  4. ^ DiCrescenzo, Brent (2009-05-07). "Asher Roth Q&A". Time Out Chicago. Retrieved 2009-08-27. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  5. ^ Condrani, Ed (2009-08-02). "All rapped up". Bucks County Courier Times. Retrieved 2009-08-27. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  6. ^ Caramanica, Jon (2009-04-15). "To Be Young, Rapping and White". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-08-27. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  7. ^ St. James (2008-06-02). "The HHNLive.com Interview: Asher Roth". HHNLive.com. Retrieved 2009-06-19. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  8. ^ a b "Feature Highlights '08: Asher Roth:So Far, So Good". XXL (magazine). 2008-12-30. Retrieved 2009-03-05.
  9. ^ a b c d Fennessey, Sean (2008-10-30). "Asher Roth". Vibe (magazine). Retrieved 2009-03-05.
  10. ^ Michael, Jon (2008-06-18). "Asher Roth - Not Your Average". Sixshot.com. Retrieved 2009-03-05.
  11. ^ a b Blanco, Alvin (2008-07-10). "Asher Roth: School's Out". AllHipHop. Retrieved 2009-03-05.
  12. ^ La Puma, Joe (2008-07-28). "Asher Roth: 'Rap Is In The Suburbs Now'". Complex (magazine). Retrieved 2009-03-05.
  13. ^ Thornton, Alex (2008-09-16). "Asher Roth: Moment Of Clarity". HipHopDX.com. Retrieved 2009-03-05.
  14. ^ Eminem Thinks Asher Roth Is Dope retrieved on 09-07-08
  15. ^ http://www.fmqb.com/Article.asp?id=16770


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