Asher Roth Talks Eminem Comparisons, New Song "As I Em"
Asher Roth is interviewed by DJ Skee on the comparison with Eminem which are pretty damn weak. Their voices are just not that close. Their content is different. Their backgrounds and social milieu are quite dissimilar.
[Note: A section from the single As I Em, in which Asher Roth addresses the comparisons, is played at the end of the clip and it's the most boring thing I've heard Asher Roth do to date, not that I've heard a lot. But it serves as evidence of how fixating on weak comparisons, or being forced to address them, leads to bad art.]
As Roth notes in a recent NY Times profile by Jon Caramanica:
"Culturally, Em was almost a black guy. My background is more stereotypically white."
On a related cultural tip, Eminem is white in the generic sense which pretends that white's have no ethnic background while Asher Roth is Jewish [has Jewish last name from his dad but does not identify as a Jew or something like that], which comes with all sorts of unique ethnic angles and is now included in the white category though that was not always the case.
Writer Caramanica also points out:
"He’s nimble and witty and self-effacing. And while his slightly nasal, clipped intonation is similar to Eminem’s, it’s hard to mistake the two. Eminem is a hyper, frenzied rapper, tension woven deep into his violent fantasies. By contrast, even when Mr. Roth is rapping aggressively, he still sounds calm and untroubled. Listen more closely, and there are deeper differences at play: the working class versus the middle class, the abandoned versus the nurtured, the outsider versus the assimilated."
Eminem came from a rough background, abandoned by his dad, growing up in Detroit suburbs but associated with urban settings, paintballing prostitutes, battle rapping, high school dropout, committed to rap early on, broke through with battle raps about pill popping, trailer trash and violent acts, a rags to riches tale.
Asher Roth came from kinder, gentler suburbs, professional daddy, yoga mom, small town, hip hop hobbyist turned pro, college dropout, breaking through with songs about college and partying, a privileged tale of success (so far).
Obviously this comparison has already been worked to death but there's plenty more to come. If Asher Roth is a relatively big success, most of it will continue as bitter grumbling but that's what much of it is already.
If you hate somebody, hate them truthfully. Hip hop and the world at large are way too full of lying liars already.
Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Asher Roth's Asleep In The Bread Aisle #1 on iTunes
Asher Roth: I Love College Music Video
Asher Roth: Lark On My Go-Kart Music Video
hes not jewish [aholery removed - ed.]
You’re right, supposedly his dad is Jewish but Asher Roth does not identify as a Jew.
In any case, they’re ethnically different and that’s my only real point. Other people get all hot and bothered about the Jewish thing but that’s their issue.
hell never be close to eminem
It certainly seems unlikely he would reach that stature. But that goes for most people.
This is stupid another video trying to start some beef..