| Asher Roth | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Asher Paul Roth |
| Born | August 11, 1985 |
| Origin | Morrisville, Pennsylvania, US |
| Genres | Alternative hip hop |
| Occupations | Rapper |
| Years active | 2005-present |
| Labels | Schoolboy, SRC, Def Jam |
| Associated acts | Nottz Raw, All City Chess Club (B.o.B, Blu, Charles Hamilton, The Cool Kids, J. Cole, Diggy, Dosage, Lupe Fiasco) |
| Website | asherrothmusic.com |
Asher Paul Roth (born August 11, 1985) is an American rapper.
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Asher Roth was born and raised in Morrisville, Pennsylvania, a small town about 20 miles northeast of Philadelphia.[1][2] His mother, Elizabeth (née McConnell), is a yoga instructor, and his father, David Roth, is the executive director of a design firm.[3][4][5][6] His mother has Scottish ancestry and his paternal grandfather was Jewish.[7][8] Roth does not consider himself Jewish, although his name often leads people to believe he is.[9] 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."[10] 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.[11]
Asher has also stated that:
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.[12]
After graduating high school, Roth entered West Chester University and became an Elementary Education major, while continuing to record verses over other people's 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.[10]
Asher Roth cites Jay-Z and Eminem among his influences in hip hop, mostly by Jay-Z's "Hard Knock Life".[13]
Roth's lyrics characteristically center around what have been called "middle-class minutiae, some also consider them to be a joke."[11] Roth's song "I Love College" is about partying but includes fatuous lyrics such as "I can get pizza a dollar a slice"[11] that have been identified as "far from threatening".
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.[14] 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 Gangsta Grillz series.
Roth started recording a full album in late 2008. It was completed in 2009. The first single was "I Love College" which received many hits across North America. His second single was "Lark on my Go-Kart". After the two 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.
Roth was featured on the cover of XXL magazine’s annual Top 10 Freshmen: Hip-Hop’s Class ’09 issue.
After finishing touring in 2009 and releasing a second mixtape, Seared Foie Gras with Quince and Cranberry,[15] Roth began working on his second studio album. From his friend Boyder's YouTube page, he has been seen working with producers Pharrell Williams and Nottz Raw. While working with Nottz, the two of them decided to collaborate on a project together, due to having a number of records rejected by the label due to sampling & copyright issues.[16] The end result was an eight track EP, solely produced by Nottz, entitled The Rawth EP. The EP, which features appearances from Colin Munroe, D.A. (of Chester French), Rhymefest and Kardinal Offishall, was released December 27, 2010.[17] Roth released and promoted "G.R.I.N.D (Get Ready It's a New Day)", the first single off of his upcoming second album, by traveling to different radio stations around the country. 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".[10] On May 25, it was announced that Roth's second studio album would no longer be called The Spaghetti Tree.[18] His song with Akon titled "Last Man Standing" is featured on the soundtrack for the videogame Madden NFL 12. In an interview with Rikki Martinez of Power 106 he announced he will be releasing a mixtape titled Pabst & Jazz and revealed the title of his upcoming second album, Is This Too Orange?.[19] On November 11th, 2011 he released the first offering off Pabst & Jazz, a song titled "Common Knowledge". In November 2011, Roth signed to Def Jam Recordings after several years been signed to SRC Records.
Asher Roth is open about his use of cannabis. As stated in an interview conducted and filmed by DJ Vlad, Roth stated his views about the legalization of marijuana and the use of cigarettes:
Cigarettes don't do anything for you except kill you ... I honestly don't believe [marijuana] is the gateway drug, because I use it and I've never done anything else ... I'm trying to be open about my "pot smoking" ...[20]
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