“Blunt Cruisin” - Review Of Asher Roth’s Asleep In The Bread Aisle
ALBUM REVIEWS By TC on April 20, 2009 at 1:24 pm
As a melanin deficient rapper, gaining attention is the easy part. Earning respect on the other hand, may take double the effort. Coming out of Surburbia, Pennsylvania, Asher Paul Roth saw his career’s stock rise fairly quickly after releasing a famed Gangsta Grillz mixtape and landing the cover of XXL with the several other of his freshman counterparts. As one of the first to land a major label deal, young Asher is out to prove he’s more than an affirmative action contingent with his exceptionally divergent debut Asleep In The Bread Aisle.
They say imitation is the best form of flattery, but in the world of Hip-Hop, it’s severely frowned upon and even Asher can’t argue with the vocal similarities he shares with a certain legendary White rapper. Hoping to quell all notions that he’s merely an Eminem knockoff, the earnest open scribe “As I Em” lays it all out there for better or worse with lines like “If I don’t confront the problem/it will never go away/unless it’s addressed/there’s nothing left for me to do/it’s impossible rejecting an elephant in the room…”
More effectively in the fight for distinction however is, Asleep In The Bread Aisle’s score. Producers Oren Yoel and David Appleton do an excellent job at conjuring up soulful rhapsodies with accessible appendages that don’t favor any particular audience. The Busta Rhymes-featured “Lion’s Roar” incorporates a frantic electro-tinge while the animated bounce of “Lark On My Go Kart” showcases a competent verbalist with Asher detailing various oddities that mirror a Nintendo game. And fellow Greenhouse Effect affiliate Don Cannon delivers a richly unique soundbed on “La Di Da” to keep the album’s melodic worth reasonably consistent.
Not every good in the bakery is fresh, however. Oddly enough, Asher manages to distance himself from further Eminem comparisons but doesn’t make any headway to leveraging his own personality for the world to embrace. The frat-boy shtick of the catchy first single “I Love College” bears little resemblance to rest of the LP — especially when Asher turns into sociological analyst on “Sour Patch Kids” and wastes 48 bars on the pointless “Bad Day.”
Topical issues aside, Asleep In The Bread Aisle offers up an euphonic musical experience from a promising Hip-Hop artist. While there’s plenty of room for growth and maturity, Asher Roth’s slacker mentality validates the stoner’s pass to thrive in the game for future endeavors.
BONUS
Asher Roth Feat. Slick Rick - “Y.O.U.” (UK Bonus Track)
Previously Posted — Roth 4:20 | “We The Professionals…” | “How It Came To Be…”
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, AUDIO, GENERAL, LOOSIES, MUSIC — Tags: Asher Roth, Asleep In The Bread Aisle, Busta Rhymes, Chester French, Slick Rick
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37 Comments
P.S. – Check out the word count.
RMF!!!
The version of the album I have only has the first 12 tracks… from what I’ve heard though, this album is just “ok”.
Good review…
Word on the streets is that Gemstones from FNF quit the game to focus on Gospel music…..best of luck to the brotha!
As far as Mr. Roth…..don’t see myself copping, but will give it a listen.
Prince Kraken Opus Wall Street Journal Article (more about the iPod)
http://blogs.wsj.com/digi…-for-2100/
By Marisa Taylor
Even for the most devoted fans of The Purple One, the new Limited Edition
Prince Opus iPod could be a reason to go crazy. And not in a good way.
British publishing company Kraken Opus will only sell 950 of the purple special-edition iPod Touch, which comes loaded with a 40-minute movie featuring footage from the enigmatic artist’s “21 Nights” 2007 tour in London, as well as a live soundtrack from his “Indigo Nights” album.
Sounds great, right? Well, the rather sizeable downfall is that the gadget costs $2,100, or $140 per song. That’s because the iPod comes with the “Prince 21 Nights Opus,” a book of photography of “21 Nights” shot by Randee St. Nicholas and including lyrics and poetry by the artist himself. According to the Opus site, the tome is more than 200 pages (each measuring 13 by 20 inches) and weighing in at “an epic 17 kg,” is bound in leather and comes in a velvet-covered case.
So are people going to actually throw down the cash to own one of these things? Kraken Opus CEO and founder Karl Fowler, a former derivatives trader at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley in London, says that one-third of the 950 available Opuses and iPods already sold over the weekend.
i(Pod) Would Die 4 U
“I’m ecstatic about that,” he said. “Without being overly confident or too arrogant about it, we always knew that we would get to a sellout position within a few months.” To sell at this rate, however, was unexpected, he said.
Mr. Fowler says that the high price of the publication is justified by the never-before-seen material featured in each one — for example, video loaded onto the Prince iPod contains exclusive footage of Prince’s concert. “Even in this current climate, there was a thirst, a strong appetite, for people who were willing to part with a premium, because they are getting something that has never been given to them before,” he says.
Other books by the company are dedicated to Argentine soccer star Maradona ($4,475), designer Vivienne Westwood ($2,088) and others, which do not, as it happens, include special iPods. If price is an issue, the company offers 0% financing to consumers in the United Kingdom. But in September, Mr. Fowler says, Kraken Opus will be releasing a Ferrari book that will come with a special edition iPod (as well as an embedded GPS microchip like the ones found in race cars, so you can track your Ferrari opus in case it’s stolen).
The verdict online about the special Prince iPod was mixed. DevinDeMarco wrote: “I like Prince, but damn $2100 for an iPod is silly. Load that joint w/ outtakes and lower the price to about $500 and I would consider it,” while NobleSon said: “The Prince “21 Night Opus” Ipod collab is BRILLIANT. Talk about knowing your audience/ market. Monetize thy work is what this tells me.”
But perhaps slainson summed it up best, asking: “Do you think the folks offering 0% financing for a Prince iPod used to be in the mortgage business?”
Word on the streets is that Gemstones from FNF quit the game to focus on Gospel music…..best of luck to the brotha!
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old news
Good wite up.
I think the beats outweigh the lyrics on this one, but as much as I hate to admit it, that song with Busta has been getting nuff spins lol.
A .5 too high, IMO.
I’d put the album somewhere between 3 and 3.5, so good review TC, and way to round it up…the kid is pretty nice on the mic, nothing spectacular but not garbagio either…good for a spin or 2 on 4:20 for the stoners or on a hot summer day down the beach
I TRIED to cop today from 3 spots, but since they’re all major retailers I guess they’re too stupid to realize when an album is supposed to come out. All of em said tomorrow.
I agree about Bad Day being awful, but I like the rest of the album a lot. Especially La Di Da, the production on that is insane.
btw, i forgot how dope the pippen’s were…i’m not a sneaker freak, does anybody sell these?
http://afrojacks.com/images/stories/1%20pippen.jpg
check ebay, I’m pretty sure those came out last year or earlier this year.
thanks @ MZ
Slick and Asher? Never saw that one coming.
You would do that word count shit, TC. Ahahaha. Nice going.
QQ: If the “Y.O.U.” the UK bonus track is track 15 and “Perfectionist” the iTunes bonus track is track 13, what is track 14? I checked wikipedia and it said it was “The Lounge.” Can’t find it for the album (but yes, I know it’s on his mixtape from last year).
I’ll take an instrumental version of this CD, but the lyrics are average at best. Nonetheless, reverse affirmative action will ensure ASSer Roth gets at least 2 more major-label releases because all the posers will stay jocking him.
Word to Dart Adams for the ether job he did on ASSer last week.
there is something kind of disgusting about how quickly this medicore artist is being shoved down our throats. he is not a great writer. if it were not for the fact that he sounds like eminem i cant see why he would be signed. just saying. best song on the album is lark on my cart
“I TRIED to cop today from 3 spots, but since they’re all major retailers I guess they’re too stupid to realize when an album is supposed to come out. All of em said tomorrow.”
Same here, i’m blue mad… hopefully this doesn’t fuck up sales for him, got a $20 bet that he pushes 100K…
“ASSer Roth”
Congrats, you have the judgement of a 12-year-old
Personally gave it a 4/5, everything on this album other than Lion’s Roar and Fallin’ (Poor ending to this CD) was awesome to me, alot of relevancy and I can relate to this album quite a bit, one of the first records in a long time… I had alot of critisism of him early on, then took a bit of a deeper listen and enjoy his style.
There’s a fair. un-bias critique which comes with actually analysing the product…
And then theres those who blatantly hate… Haters hate, but what are you doing with your life?
Good for Asher, hopefully these Eminem comparisons seep away, albeit slowly and he can make a career for himself.
I NEED “kinda like a big deal” instrumental ?
Anyone holding?
Kanye and Clipse?
Ok TSS bloggers it would really help me out if you answered this question: If you liked (insert album title here),then you will like Asleep in the Bread Aisle.
@ Chris Searl: Nah kid, I have the judgment of a cat who listened to the album 3 times and found it to have top-notch production (hence my request for an instrumental version of the album) but a seriously wack MC on the mic. On a good day this kid is average, but he’s mostly mediocre. So-so lyrics, ok delivery, really annoying voice. His corny gimmick/schitck only flies because of his skin color, but a wack MC is a wack MC. He is wack. Ass, if you will. Huffbuckets. If you can relate to this dude so be it, I’m sure there’s plenty of cats who can. I’m only 2 years removed from my college days myself but I’m not at all feeling the “I love College” ish. Just pure cheesy wackness. But he has a niche so he’ll be ok, just don’t give me cole slaw from poppyes and try and tell me it’s gourmet potato salad from Whole Foods. This shit is weak. I give it 2.5/5 mainly on the strength of the production and the fact that he at least put something out that is undeniably him, I’m just not feeling it.
anybody got that chester french cd??
just don’t give me cole slaw from poppyes and try and tell me it’s gourmet potato salad from Whole Foods.
==========================================
lmao
That song with Rick is dope. I agree with people who said the beats are great, they are, they make practically every song. Vocals need work but overall its alright.
do something crazy.
btw, i forgot how dope the pippen’s were…i’m not a sneaker freak, does anybody sell these?
http://afrojacks.com/images/stories/1%20pippen.jpg
=======================================
I thought they still had them at Footlocker… that’s where I copped mine, but that was like in Nov./Dec.
**Just don’t give me cole slaw from poppyes and try and tell me it’s gourmet potato salad from Whole Foods**
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I have to admit that line was pretty damn funny…but I saw Asher perform live in Minneapolis and he had an okay set but I can see sticking around for awhile since he hasn’t been saturated. I think somebody would be better growing slowly…because if his “come out” or buzz would have been over hyped and this is the review we get, people might write him off.
I will say over all Glass Joe Roth has not made me say “Damn, he’s dope I gotta find more of him…” but he has made me say “aww man, why did he say that…” but that was only from 2 songs. I am going to get this album listen to it fully and be fair…
Right now though, Asher hasn’t made my “tight new artist list yet…” but after listening to this album it’ll be cool if he does…
Anotha Time,
Mally
shouts out to Hannibal Matthews…he shot the cover art.
did a very random interview with him like….an hour ago.
http://qik.com/video/1510849
yo mally, when did asher perform in minneapolis? damn im pissed i missed that one
@ El Rosado: Couldn’t have said it better myself. AHHAAA!!! (Jadakiss laugh).
4/5?
No fucking way.
I know the TSS crew put in work but I just can’t agree, did he get a new guy pass or something-ie. those lyrics? The production carried him all the way through-2.5/3 @ the most- Just IMO.
personally i loved the album so fuck all haters and keep doin your shit Ash
Damn am i the only one who thinks that la-di-da beat sounds like hate it or love it by 50 ???
yeah, the haters are out in full force. Fuck’em. The review was dead on point. a 3.5 is about right. If I was high when I first listened to it, it would get a solid 4. Almost all of the tracks are on some good, laid back Devin the Dude style chillness. Also, you definitely need to be in the ride listenin to the tracks to get the fuck effect. Sittin at ya ‘puters won’t allow you to experience the album the way it was intended.
“also you definitely need to be in the ride listenin to th etracks to get the FULL effect” not the “fuck effect”…..ahahah
Kool Keith Says:
Damn am i the only one who thinks that la-di-da beat sounds like hate it or love it by 50 ???
**********************************************************
damn, poor guy, you actually listen to 50………
I thought this is very well done. Compared to all the bull shit out today that is so called music, it’s nice to hear someone bring back a somewhat comedic approach but with a sick, laid back style tagged along to Hip Hop.I personally give it 4/5.