Image courtesy of asherroth.com

By: Gregory Brand, Jr.
Entertainment Editor
SOTG Magazine

Asleep in the Bread Aisle
Asher Roth
Raiting: 4.5 out of 5

Filled with witty wordplay and an uncanny sense of humor, Asher Roth's mainstream debut album, "Asleep in the Bread Aisle," scores by touching base with recent history.

The album features tons of cleverly delivered verses and whimsical wordplay atop a varied collection of beats that run the gamut of emotion and life.

Asher Roth became a sort of underground legend and semi-modern backpacker's dream when he began dropping mixtape gems and leaking tracks over the Internet. The attention grew into a following once the noise he was making on leaked tracks caught the ear of some major players.

In effect, Roth has made the transition from being in the background to the forefront of his genre, based on his connections with the streets, the mixtape game and his lyricism.

While his story reads as the typical rags to riches ride to the top, his story is deepened by the fact that Asher Roth is a white emcee.

Coincidentally, Roth's flow and delivery will immediately draw comparison with his only other white predecessor and soon-to-be contemporary: Eminem.

Realistically, the two would sound almost identical except the fact that they rap about two totally different things. While Eminem is decidedly more angry and street (trailers are parked on streets right?), Roth is more carefree and divides a lot of his time spitting on his concerns with being young and having fun.

Roth's style has even invited the company of a few power players. With help from, Jazze Pha, Beanie Sigel, Rock City, Chester French, Cee Lo Green and others, it is apparent that this album is not pulling punches.

The aforementioned playfulness is show on the comical, "I Love College" and on the smooth retro vibe of "La Di Da." On I Love College, Roth shares a cleverly delivered PSA on why he enjoyed college so much and La Di Da shows the emcee telling a story about life's struggles under the cover of a bouncy old-school beat.

Though Roth is not a gangster in the conventional sense of the word, his skills elevate him higher than the average. On the New Kingdom and Busta Rhymes featured "Lion's Roar," Roth shines with a slightly sped-up flow and hangs with a hip-hop legend.

Production value on this album is competent and suits the original source material. The lyricism is varied but solid and the music supports it well. While there is no definitive track that blows the mind musically, each track is complete and well put together.

The album's only weak point is the fact that that a majority of the album is monotone. There is no clear-cut party starter nor is there a song geared in the opposite direction. While there are some somber tracks, there is not a whole lot of really expressive emotion.

The realest example of displayed emotion is the moody track, "His Dream," where Roth pours himself into a story of what drives the artist to make it.

To some fans the lack of polarized emotional concepts may not even be an issue considering some folks don’t need their artists to be all the way honest.

This is not an album for the diehard street hip-hop fan. It's decidedly more tame in subject matter, if not in language, and is meant to serve as a medium of artistic expression of a different type.

For the average middle-class kid in America, the rigors of streetlife are not as relatable as they used to be and this album may be one of the new avenues toward a further evolving hip-hop.

Much like Gym Class Heroes did just a few years ago, Roth shows that real hip-hop dexterity can indeed live outside the hood and still be viable.

"Asleep in the Bread Aisle" can be seen as a sort of gateway drug for those looking to get addicted to modern hip-hop music.

Bottom Line: "Asleep in the Bread Aisle" is a solid mainstream debut for an artist that has spend the last few years making noise in the background.

Labels: music, reviews