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6

Before I delve into my Relapse review, I figure it only logical to (finally) bang this one out first. To make a long story short; Asleep in the Bread Aisle is not as good as it should have been, but it’s not as bad as it could have been. Not that I’m making excuses for a sub-par hip hop record, but let’s examine the facts.  Asher Roth is no Eminem. This has its good and bad points. There’s arguably only been one legitimate white rapper…well, ever. It would be unfair to judge the album on a Slim Shady LP scale, but it would also be unfair to dismiss it based on the fact that Asher Roth is a white, middle-class college student from suburban Pennsylvania.

While the latter proves to work against him lyrically (he doesn’t really have much to say about anything that doesn’t involve smoking weed or watching re-runs of Saved by the Bell), it also sometimes benefits less talented rappers who happen to be the exact opposite. Even though there’s a whole track dedicated to the rather close-minded comparisons to Eminem (“Now the masses think that Asher wants to be a Marshall Mathers/They say ‘Asher’s not a rapper, nah his ass is just an actor’/Cause we have the same complexion and similar voice inflection”), and Asher is clearly not as (or at all) shocking, controversial, or inappropriate, I don’t think he’ll ever really escape that one.

Regardless of all premeditated judgments of this record (and the clichéd and slightly corny “I Love College” factor), I’ll admit that I enjoy it. The choruses are catchy, and the beats are fun. Excessive over-hyping may need to take the blame if that’s a disappointment. Among the highlights are the aforementioned “As I Em”, the Don Cannon produced “La Di Da,” the Cee-Lo featuring “Be By Myself”, and his most substantial lyrical effort, the politically charged “Sour Patch Kids” (“Unfortunately a fortune is what you need/Cause the fortune 500s run the country/Its one company and if you’re not a company/Would you mind grabbing me a cup of tea?”).

Biggest cons of the album can all be exemplified on the head-scratcher “Bad Day.” Asher runs dry on material at times (lamenting that “the tube has no HBO/ so anything I want yo I’m paying for/ but I’m lame and broke so I’m laying in a robe watching that Little People Big World show.” That…sucks?), and his verses fall a little flat at the end more than once (“Alls good slaughter/Just need water but for a bottle they charge two dollars/And when I thought that it couldn’t be worse, I forgot my iPod”). Eek.

As far as the Class of ‘09 is concerned, he will likely end up delivering the least impressive record of the bunch, but Asleep in the Bread Aisle has its highlights and is overall a decent debut. However, it’s nothing to bleach your hair and throw your girlfriend in the trunk and drive off a bridge over. It’s a good album to get stoned and play video games to, which is why it’s unfortunate that everyone will inevitably compare apples to oranges. “It’s simple, I’m just a kid who wants to rap to make a living.” Fair enough.