Asher Roth “I Love College” Music Video

Anyone else think this is corny?

ASHER ROTH Performs On Carson Daly’s Show

Cool pic!

Asher put on a pretty solid performance on Carson Daly’s show, but it still looked corny to me with the the “chug” chants [WATCH]. I received an e-mail from HipTics reader by the name of Gary S. who had this to say about my criticism of Asher Roth. Thought I’d share. -Cfro

“I stumbled across your site and I thought it was worth my time to drop you a line.  I’m amazed at how much buzz is surrounding Asher right now.  I agree with you that he has some skills but it it what it sounds like:  A frat kid flowin at a house party.  Ive heard plenty of emcees that can do what he does with even more integrity yet he is up on some kind of pedestal right now.  I don’t see how he is going to get any real respect or longevity in the industry.  I’m not a hater by any means; I wish him well; but he is going to end up a puppet like Vanilla Ice and be pissed off later in his career, or not, maybe this is everything he aspires to be.  We will see.  I am a white boy myself but Asher is no Eminem even if he does have a copy of Infinite.  Where is Suge when you need him?”

ASHER Roth SUCKS Compared To NOTORIOUS B.I.G.

So last night I was up watching Bigger Than Life, a documentary about the life and career of The Notorious B.I.G. aka Biggie Smalls.  During a commercial break I switched over to one of MTVs random channels (MTVu) right as Asher Roth was about to perform. I thought I owed it to the guy to watch considering I’ve been real critical of his career choices.

Dude comes out wearing basketball shorts, a college sweatshirt, and one of those flannel hats with the ear muffs attached. He starts singing the chorus to “I Love College” with the back-up vocals making his singing bearable. The song, in case you also don’t listen to pussy-rap, is an ode to all things beer pong. To quote part of Asher’s first verse:

“i wanna go to college for the rest of my life/sip bankers club and drink miller lite/
on thirsty thursday and tuesday night ice/and i can get pizza a dollar a slice/
so fill up my cup/lets get fucked up/im next on the table/who want what
i am champion at beer pong/allen iverson hakeem olajuwon/”

At first the crowd seemed somewhat amused, but after about 18 seconds it was clear that Asher Roth sucks at performing. He kept trying to get the crowd to wave along with him, which they willingly did at first, but then he did it again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again. Finally the Cool Kids came out and sorta saved him, but they weren’t much more impressive on stage. I switched back to BET for Bigger Than Life, and was quickly reminded how Biggie would lyrically murder this new era of rappers who wear Louis Vuitton bags, tight jeans, and flannel hats with ear muffs attached. B.I.G. could do it all and he had the stage precense to back it up. He also wasn’t marketed as a drunk frat bro. -Cfro

ASHER ROTH Helps Tackle Airplane BOMBER

Mr. Homeland Security

If rap never works out, Asher could always be an Air Marshall. Props to Mr. Roth. Had I been in the same situation I would like to think I would do the same thing. I’d probabaly A-Town stomp the guy a few times, too. What would Jeezy do?  -Cfro

The incident happened during an early morning, 230-passenger Delta flight from Atlanta to Los Angeles.

Before the descent into LAX airport, a male flight attendant began screaming from the plane’s rear for help with an unruly passenger.

Roth and Chris Llewellyn, bassist for the rapper’s band, immediately rushed to the attendant’s aid along with several other passengers.

“The suspect was yelling, ‘Don’t come near me, I have a bomb, I have a bomb!” Llewellyn later told the Los Angeles Times.

New Asher Roth Video Interview with DJ Enuff

I enjoyed the interview. Very talented individual, but I don’t think he’s on track for a long career. I hope I’m wrong because it would be nice to have someone with Asher’s well crafted, conscious content in the mainstream.

A lot of people don’t really listen to the radio anymore, man. There on the internet, knawmean. On the blogs, knawmean. (He speaks the truth, but WDUB will always be relevant.)

We got that war going on in Iraq that we’re really not supposed to be in…We’re over there, but meanwhile we have a war going on inside no man is safe from. You know what I mean? I’m just trying — in this crazy world we live in — I’m just trying to stay sane. And that’s what the record is about. It’s the battle that I’m fighting within while we got this whole world that’s going on that’s crazy…

College man.

Asher Roth Will Never Be A Rap Star (Part 2)

Yesterday I brought you 3 reasons why Asher Roth will never be a rap star/have a long-lasting career in the rap industry. Read all about it HERE.

My first 3 reasons sparked some controversy in the comments section. This is what one reader had to say,

I’m not saying you need to like the dude, or that he is the freshest, I just think your points on why he won’t succeed are pretty fuckin’ stupid. I think you should do your homework and get back on the internet and pay close attention to whats going on in the world of music.

Not everyone was anti-Cfro. John-Henry of Hiptics had this to say,

Asher Roth is similar to Mickey Avalon, they are niche rappers with limited marketability, and appeal. At best, he will be a novelty, a white humpty-hump of the 21st century. Rap music, for many white suburban kids, hip-hop is half escape, half action movie. Most people who purchased Ready to Die never sold crack, spent time in jail, but still could relate with the former King of New York because at some point in time they felt like their life was “played out like a jeri curl.” Rap for suburban kids is a fantasy land that rarely speaks of consequences, and they are able to relate with it on a somewhat microscopic level. Whether it’s feeling “ready to die” or hustling dime bags out of your dorm room your freshman year of college. Asher doesn’t have that same action/escape effect. He is right there with us. I take him about as seriously as the Smirnoff Iced Tea Preppy Rappers.

As promised, here’s my 4th and 5th reason why Asher Roth will never be a rap star.

4. His performance skills need serious work. Look at him perform in Atlanta. That’s what I would look like performing. Again, he’s too normal. He has no mystique. Stars do. Yet another great reason to give Mr. Roth two more years to grow. After all, concert skills pay the bills, especially in 2008 (when was the last time you bought a CD?)

5. His crew (or lack thereof). 50 Cent has Yayo and G-Unit. Eminem had Proof and D-12. Asher has the kid that helped you with your Chemistry homework. And the rest of the crew has as much personality as the Chemistry book.

Asher Roth Will Never Be A Rap Star

My handlers are out of touch.

Before I say anything, let me give props to Mr. Roth for having skills and actually rapping about something. I respect his craft. There’s a lot of buzz about Asher lately, and it’s much deserved.

Specifically there’s the DJ Drama /Don Cannon hosted mix tape called The Greenhouse Effect.. From what I hear (and what I’ve heard), he comes quite correct. You can download it at his official Ning community.

Red cups are gangsta

Here’s the problem: He’s not going to sell too many copies if he keeps up with his bullshit marketing campaign. Let me break it down…

1. He sounds like Eminem in 1999. If you’re trying to be the next respectable white emcee, don’t sound like the King. You can’t debut with a bootleg Slim Shady delivery, no matter how ill you are.

2. He’s too normal. Seriously, this dudes life story could put me to sleep while swimming in a cold pool of Red Bull [SEE!]. Rap fans often buy CDs to escape their own reality. Why would I want to listen to a dude rap about beer pong, anyway? I want to shoot guns and have unprotected sex with bust it babies.

3. The economy is in a decline. Fewer people are going to college. Why is being marketed as Mr. College? Nothing like being an elitist — you jerk!

Check for reasons #4 and #5 coming tomorrow.