Posts Tagged ‘the greenhouse effect’

The next great white rapping hope

Monday, July 7th, 2008

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: