Rapper Asher Roth plays the Nokia Theater July 15.
by Eric Herschthal Staff Writer
The one question that the 23-year-old rapper Asher Roth knew he'd be answering for a long time was this: What makes you different from Eminem, the other white rapper?
Even before his breakout single "I Love College" sold more than a million copies since its release in January, the rising star seemed to anticipate the comparison. His first album "Asleep in the Bread Aisle," which debuted on the Billboard Top 5 in April, included a track called "As I Em" that crisply neutered the parallel: "Each critic be picking apart my writtens / If it isn't up to par, then Asher Paul is just a gimmick," he rhymed. (Paul is his middle name.)
But another question keeps nagging him by surprise: Are you Jewish?
The name begs
the question, and the facts-be-damned nature of the blogosphere has seemed to decide its answer: yes. But in fact, it's no. "Asher comes from my mother's side," Roth told The Jewish Week, in an interview before his Nokia Theater appearance on July 15. "She's Presbyterian and Asher comes from her father's middle name: Joseph Asher McConnell. It's Scottish."
Of course "Roth" is Jewish and comes from his paternal grandfather's side. But only his grandfather identified as Jewish, he said. His father does not: "He's a realist, a skeptic," Roth noted.
The Roth family, in fact, celebrates Christmas, though it isn't a particularly religious thing: "It's not like we're celebrating the birth of Jesus or anything," he said. "It's just getting family together."
Roth grew up in Morrisville, Pa., a suburban town near Philadelphia. Like many middle-class suburban kids, he grew up listening to groups like the Dave Matthews Band and Bob Marley, The Roots and Jay-Z. He only rapped for fun, but in 2007, a college friend sent a MySpace video of Roth rapping to a well-connected Atlanta producer, Scooter Braun, and then things got serious.
Braun flew Roth to Atlanta and introduced him to influential hip-hop disc jockeys Don Cannon and DJ Drama. They recorded a mix tape called "The Greenhouse Effect," which helped Roth get signed with the rap mogul Steve Rifkind, producer of groups like the Wu-Tang Clan and Mobb Deep. Since the single "I Love College," a self-aware if utterly un-self-conscious ode to college revelry became a nationwide hit, Roth has become a bona fide star.
He's been featured on the cover of hip-hop's premier magazines, seen on MTV and VH1, and heard on radio stations and college campuses across the country. When he comes to New York this week, it'll be the second stop on a 19-city tour with the major hip-hop performer Kid Cudi.
When Roth spoke with The Jewish Week, he was in Atlanta recording new songs with Don Cannon. "We were up till five in the morning," Roth said. "Just putting in some work." Though his debut album is not even three months old, he's been recording new songs whenever inspiration, and an open studio, strikes. His rhymes are not only ferociously intelligent, but socially conscious too. The song he recorded the previous night was about global warming, he said, and past songs have promoted gun control and healthy eating.
Of course, pot smoking, sex and drinking (all of which he supports) play a prominent role in his lyrics too. But his underlying motive is not to preach; only to represent the white liberal middle-class values he knows best. "People call it political," Roth said. "I just call it rapping about things that matter."
Religion matters to him as well, but purely in a spiritual sense. "At the end of the day, religion is all derived from the same thing," he said, referring to the common search for spirituality. His holistic worldview - he practices yoga, eats organic food and likes Buddhist thought - stems in large part from his mother, who reads tarot cards for a living. "She's legit," he said, noting that her work isn't about reading people's futures. It's just giving them constructive advice, he said. The other week he even had her read him his cards, and the results were pretty generic: "stay disciplined and keep a tight-knit group," he said.
The advice may prove handy as he enters the next phase of his career. Since his rapid rise to stardom, the early criticism that he is a gimmick, a one-hit wonder, and inauthentic have only increased.
His album has not sustained its strong first-week sales, and a second major hit like "I Love College" has proved elusive. In comparison, the Jewish question doesn't seem to bother him at all.
"I could care less, I really don't mind at all," he said, then added, "All of my friends are Jewish."
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