With the Beastie Boys making basketball documentaries, MC Serch hosting reality shows, and Eminem in self-imposed exile somewhere north of 8 Mile, there is a vacancy for hip-hop’s pigment-challenged ambassador. The next great white rapper might not come from New York or Motown, but instead the Pennsylvania suburbs. Asher Roth is a young, caucasoid MC who is branding himself as a sort of “Joe College” rapper. Its unclear if this sort of “Frat Rap” has an audience, but if novelty acts like MIA, Lady Sovereign, and Matisyahu can find a niche due to their talent, so too can Asher.

My initial impression is that the boy can flow, but he suffers from pop-culture reference dropping fever. His brief periods of introspection are weighted evenly with run of the mill, wack rapper misogyny. He is bound to get over-hyped in the next few months, but you can judge for yourself right now. Download his new mixtape The Green House Effect (which is more of a drug reference than a environmental reference) from his website, or check out this remake of Jay-Z’s Roc Boys, entitled Roth Boys:

Here’s a roundup of various green rappers and some of their musical stylings:

-Its a Disgrace by Cypher:Dissident.
-Pas de Feu by MC Tino34, a rapper from Togo.
-Charris Ford, aka the Granola Ayatollah of Canola
-My Name is Alex, and his sometimes band The Blood Thirsty Vegans
-My Life and Yours… its a British female green rap invasion!
-X10 performing their C02 rap with a dancing polar bear.

Oh, and last but not least you got our very own Green Rapper.

A couple of years ago, I was studying for the GRE and decided to make up a rap to learn the common vocabulary words found on the test. I recorded the song a while back and recently threw together a video for the song using stop motion animation and some choppy footage I took when I snuck my video camera into the library. As a public service for those who may be taking the SAT or GRE in the future, we bring you “Wordsmithin’” - a video guaranteed to teach you a new word and/or give you motion sickness. Ironically, I still haven’t applied to grad school or used one of these words in a conversation. The guys over at Flocabulary have turned educational raps into an art form, though I’m sure they’d probably have something to say about the pedagogical soundness of this video.

Read on for a full list of words in the song

People who know nothing about rap music like to say that rap music has no meaning. I’d say that is true of about 90% of what is played on the radio these days, but it was the fun and social messages in rap music that attracted me to it as a young person (which we spoke about in our last episode). These days, there are plenty of great artists who are putting out music with a message, but they just don’t get the exposure that your 50 Cents and Little Waynes get. Some great, idea-oriented artists that I’ve been listening to these days include Brother Ali, Pete Miser, and Lupe Fiasco. I thought I’d put together an all-time top-ten list of my favorite rap songs that don’t have to do with booty, bling, or bb guns. This is by no means a “well thought out” list, so let me know if you think something has been omitted etc. (Note: Links pop up into Youtube videos of the songs)

1. Trees – Dr. Octagon
2. New World Water – Mos Def
3. Stop The Violence - Boogie Down Productions
4. Keep Ya Head Up - 2Pac
5. An Open Letter to NYC – Beastie Boys
6. Minority Report – Jay-Z
7. Tennessee – Arrested Development
8. Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos – Public Enemy
9. U.N.I.T.Y. – Queen Latifah
10. Hip-Hop - Dead Prez

This video was shot in 2007 during various trips to National Parks on the West Coast. After hearing the buzzword “Watershed Event” thrown around in the political arena, we put this song and video together to shed light on environmental issues and personal responsibility. This was put together before Greenrapper.com had come about, and is slightly political, but if you’ve gotten this far, you probably won’t be offended.