"What's with Asher Roth blowing up so huge?" you ask. Why do white rappers like Eminem and Asher Roth appeal to such a big crossover audience while so many talented black rappers toil in relatively less slobbery popularity?
My thesis: While there are a number of accomplished white rappers in the land, it is definitely harder for a white guy to be taken seriously as a rapper than it is for a black guy. It's hard to argue against that truth. Additionally, no matter how good a white rapper is, he's usually going no further than the indie/backpack rap and hip hop head crowds. So it stands to argue that for a white rapper to go MAINstream at all, he's got to be pretty good. He's got to demonstrate something akin to white exceptionalism in hip hop. It's like a black guy being elected president of the USA. He's got to be one sharp dude. So, maybe Asher Roth is just that good. Maybe Asher Roth is the best rapper alive!!!
I'm kinda liking this shit here.
But a new point worth making is that Asher Roth doesn't have to be all thuggish and from the Pennsylvania version of 8-Mile to make it work. Nowadays the most popular (read: crossover) rappers dress like Kanye, borrowing from whiteys.
1 comment:
That song is terrible. Everything about this guy is terrible. I appreciate your analysis, but I think you're wrong. I think that instead of being so Other that he must be good, he benefits by reflecting the prurient dreams of the main record-purchasing demographics, simply putting back to them - through a face they can identify - their own superficial values: objectifying women, flaunting commitment, getting drunk...
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