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Asher RothBe By MyselfCommon KnowledgeDope ShitEnforce The LawGotta Get UpG.R.I.N.D.I Love CollegeLark On My Go-KartLast Man StandingShe Don't Wanna ManSummertime
Asher Roth was born and raised in Morrisville, a small town about 20 miles northeast of Philadelphia.[1][2][3] His mother, Elizabeth (née McConnell), is a yoga instructor, and his father, David Roth, is the executive director of a design firm.[4][5][6][7] He attended Pennsbury High School. Growing up, Roth was exposed to little hip-hop in his family, with his parents preferring "The Temptations, Earth, Wind & Fire ... Bruce Springsteen and Dire Straits."[8] According to Roth: The first CD I ever bought was Dave Matthews Band's Crash...That is how suburban I am...I finally got into hip hop in '98 when I heard the Annie sample with Jay-Z....When I wrote my 'A Milli' freestyle, that was me listening to 10 years of hip hop and not relating to it at all. Like, Damn I don’t sell coke. Damn, I don’t have cars or 25-inch rims. I don't have guns. I finally got to a point where I had the confidence to do this thing myself, and I was making music for me. And it turns out, a lot of people feel the same way I do.[9] Asher has also stated that: "I was always from the outside looking in," says Roth. "Hip-hop has always been very influential in the ‘burbs, [but] it’s just a matter of where we could relate to it. You find a lot of kids that are really confused. You look at them and they’re dressed out of character. They don’t look right. I figured out, I don’t have to dress this way, but I can still love hip-hop."[10] Upon graduation, Roth entered West Chester University
and became an Elementary Education major, while continuing to record
verses over other peoples’ beats. During sophomore year, Roth posted
some of his verses on his MySpace page and sent a Friend Request
to Scooter Braun, an Atlanta-based promoter and former VP of Marketing
for Jermaine Dupri's So So Def. One week after speaking to Braun,
Roth flew down to Atlanta and was immediately signed by Braun,
who subsequently became his manager.[8] After linking up with Braun, Roth moved to Atlanta
to pursue a hip-hop career full-time. As industry buzz grew, Roth
was courted by a number of labels, including SRC, Def Jam, Warner
Bros. Records and Atlantic.[11] Roth would eventually sign a joint
venture between Braun's Schoolboy Music and Steve Rifkind, chairman
of SRC/Universal Records. On June 13, 2008, Roth put out his first
professional release, the Don Cannon and DJ Drama-helmed The Greenhouse
Effect mixtape, via the Internet. This resulted in Roth being the
second white rapper to be featured on Drama and Cannon’s influential
Gangsta Grillz series. Sometime in mid 2008, Roth announced he would
be making a full studio album and it would be released sometime
in early 2009. He started recording in late 2008, and continued
into 2009. The first single released was titled, "I Love College", which received many hits across North America. His second single was titled, "Lark on my Go-Kart". After the 2 singles were released, Roth's studio album, Asleep in the Bread
Aisle, was released on April 20, 2009. He supported his album with
a nationwide tour with B.o.B. and Kid Cudi. Asher also joined Blink-182
in the second half of their reunion tour in the fall of 2009. After finishing touring in 2009 and a second mixtape,
Seared Foie Gras with Quince and Cranberry, work has begun on Asher's
second studio album. From his friend Boyder's YouTube page, he
has been seen working with producers Pharrell and Nottz. The album
release is expected sometime in 2011. Asher promoted G.R.I.N.D.
(Get Ready it's a New Day), the first single off of his new album,
The Spaghetti Tree by traveling to different radio stations around
the country. Asher Roth revealed four tracks on his upcoming album
in a XXL article. One features Game, one is produced by Swizz Beatz
and another is titled "Run it Back".[8] Roth's lyrics characteristically center around what have been called "middle-class minutiae, some also consider them to be a joke."[9] Roth's song "I Love College" is about partying with alcohol and marijuana, but includes fatuous lyrics such as "I can get pizza a dollar a slice"[9] that have been identified as "far from threatening". As he gained prominence being a white performer in a predominantly black musical genre, Roth has earned many comparisons to Eminem, so much so that he devoted a track on his album to the famed rapper, entitled "As I Em."[2] In an interview with XXL Magazine, Eminem cosigned Asher. He had this to say when asked about the comparison: "I haven't had a chance to, like, really get into everything, like, really get into what he's about, because I've only heard a couple songs. There was talk about people saying he sounded like me, and he was doing this and that and, you know, trying to take what I do and do it. You know, shit like that. I've heard things. But the stuff that I've heard from him honestly, which certainly isn't enough for me to make my own opinion and say, ‘Yeah, he does sound like me' or ‘No, he doesn't.' But the couple of songs I've heard, I don't really think he does. You know what I mean? He's doing his own thing. I can respect it, too, because at the end of the day, I think he's dope." [12] Discography * Asleep in the Bread Aisle (2009) Mixtapes * The GreenHouse Effect (2008) EPs * Just Listen (2005) Awards * MTV Video Music Awards
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