Artist: Asher Roth
Album: Asleep in the Bread Aisle
Label: SchoolBoy/SRC/Universal Motown
Release Date: April 20
Grade: A
???He's white, he raps and has a schoolboy sense of humor with a knack for referencing the obscure. Oh, and above anything else, he's an incredibly gifted lyricist. Sound familiar?
???No, he's not Marshall. He's Asher Roth, a 22-year-old native of Morrisville, Penn. Roth created a buzz for himself last year when he released the Don Cannon assisted mixtape The Greenhouse Effect.
Now, he's off the mix tape circuit and reveling in heavy rotation with his in-studio debut Asleep In The Bread Aisle.
???When an album full of rebellion, youthfulness, storytelling and an inventive sound comes along, it can be timeless. Asleep in the Bread Aisle is exactly that.
???The album is mostly produced by up-and-comers Oren Yokel and David Appleton and starts with the drum heavy "Lark on My Go-Kart." The fast and nostalgic-sounding background blends well with Roth's picture-painting lyrics.
??? "Mario Kart skills are outrageous/ Play me any day and I'll be the best racist/ Wait no erase it/ Meant to say racer/ Traded in my cell phone for a new pager," Roth raps.
???Next up is the chilled out "Blunt Cruisin," where Roth tells his buddies while driving that he has the munchies for food and ladies along the way. The beat is a blend of rock and Roots-inspired hip-hop, giving a Beastie Boys-like sound to a modern setting.
???The first single "I Love College," which is currently in the top 20 on the charts and samples "Say It Ain't So" by Weezer, professes Roth's collegiate experiences.
Here we find out that Roth was in fact a cham-p-ion at beer pong and his skills are NBA worthy. More than anything, this less-than-serious jaunt through college life is a prime depiction of Roth's exquisite storytelling ability.
???"I can't tell you what I learned from school/ But I can tell you a story or two," Roth raps.
And that he does.
???"La Di Da" goes in the opposite direction and takes a serious approach to things as Roth speaks about listening to music after dealing with the complexities of day-to-day life.
???"Be By Myself" features Cee-Lo and is the album's second single. For this track, Roth embraces his independent life, moving on from a woman that wants to be his one and only. The song shows good chemistry between Roth and Cee-Lo and gives a signature Gnarls Barkley soul funk hip rock beat-backing to Roth's lax delivery.
???The clubs aren't ignored both in the Bread Aisle and, amazingly, the sound of the album isn't compromised in the process as it is with many releases these days. "She Don't Want a Man," featuring Keri Hilson, and "Lion's Roar," with Busta Rhymes, displays a techno and pop sound respectively, but it only serves to make the songs better and still manages to sound inventive.
???Comparisons to Eminem are also addressed on the rapper's ode "As I Em," which blends British rock; reggae and hip hop in just under four minutes and 20 seconds.
???"His Dream" nears the album's end and depicts a man's dreams of music being put aside for the sake of his family and raising his son to live out his aspirations. With a unique path paved in storytelling, the tale ends with the revelation that the son is none other than Asher Roth himself.
???Asleep in the Bread Aisle is an album that's extremely reflective of the times. With a party-friendly nature and more random references than an episode of Family Guy, Roth has painted a fun, thought-provoking journey through the mind of a college student with knowledge on tap and a hearty amount of leftover pizza he bought for a dollar a slice.
???Nothing short of a classic, Asleep In The Bread Aisle legitimizes Roth's status as an actual emcee and most definitely proves that he's not Eminem.
???Now go do something crazy and pick up Roth's debut.
