Asher Roth – Asleep In The Bread Aisle (4-20-2009)

Posted on Apr 22 in Reviewsby adminPrint

Almost ten years ago exactly a great white hope emerged within the hip-hop world and has since gone on to become declared one of the top five MCs dead or alive. As you may have already noticed the past decade has brought about much change in the world and now we find ourselves embracing the idea of a great white rapper once again. Asher Roth’s debut effort Asleep In The Bread Aisle promises to not hold quite the same obscene substance as Eminem’s Slim Shady LP but nonetheless should be a quite interesting journey for substance lovers and abusers. 

Asher Roth plays the part of a seasoned college class skipper on the album’s opening joint “Lark On My Go Kart” as he proclaims himself the king of the blumpkin. Roth’s comical smoked out theme “Blunt Cruisin” finds the young rapper reliving the all too familiar scenario of the nervous pothead who seems to believe that every car behind him is the police. Roth’s detailed storytelling skills are put on front street for the album’s first single “I Love College” where he spits eerily vivid details of a frat party that took place last night on any college campus across the country. Roth allows his full lyrical arsenal to breath on the Don Cannon produced “La Di Da” but the Cee-Lo assisted encore effort “Be By Myself” seems a little bit too forced.   

Oren Yoel laces a spacey backdrop as Roth speaks on several serious issues affecting his current mind state on the well packaged and delivered “Sour Patch Kids.” On “As I Em” Roth takes a nice chunk of time to confront and dispel all of the comparisons to Eminem. On the Jazze Pha featured “Bad Day” Roth spits about the minor details of a really shitty day. The track finds him going off on issues such as an overweight passenger on an airplane to forgetting his ipod for the same plane trip. Roth takes a break from the college foolishness to pen a heartfelt memoir for his father on “His Dream” where he takes the time to acknowledge his father’s sacrifices.  

In a time where honest, non-violent, and anti-sexist lyrics are not at all a popular thing Asher Roth is able to craft a unique sounding vibe with his debut, Asleep In The Bread Aisle. Unfortunately for the newcomer the comparisons to Eminem will never stop and he’ll be known as a second rate artist in most people’s eyes from now until the end. If Roth can possibly make it through all the immediate criticisms and torture that the rap industry will inevitably throw in his direction he should come back to make an even more solid product on his second album.

VERDICT – 12 / 20
LYRICS: 3
PRODUCTION: 3
DELIVERY: 3
CONSISTENCY: 3