Artist: Asher Roth
Album: Asleep In The Bread Aisle 
Genre: Hip Hop
Label: Schoolboy/Universal

Tracks:
1. Lark On My Go-Kart
2. Blunt Cruisin’
3. I Love College
4. La Di Da
5. Be By Myself (ft. Cee-Lo)
6. She Don’t Wanna Man
7. Sour Patch Kids
8. As I Em (feat. Chester French)
9. Lion’s Roar (ft. New Kingdom & Busta Rhymes)
10. Bad Day (feat. Jazze Pha)
11. His Dream
12. Fallin’

Whenever a new rapper emerges, there is something to prove. Unlike any other genre (aside from dance and some pop), success in this genre is entirely dependant on your ability to impress us with your vocal skill. Many step up to the plate, but few hit the ball and the next up on the plate is the elementary education major, Asher Roth, with his debut release, Asleep In The Bread Aisle .

Starting off with the very solid and trippy, “Lark on my Go Kart,” Asher comes right out with his very straightforward, yet funny and awkward rhyme style. The follow up, another pot influence track, “Blunt Cruisin,” should appeal to his obviously college aged target audience. There’s fun to it,  but the rhymes are solid. The single, “I Love College,” is a double edged sword. It’s a great track, but Asher dumbs himself down so much for it to work that I feel it’s a bit of a sell out track. Don’t simplify the rhyme to amplify the sales. Please.   On the first half, it’s at this point that things get a bit weak, but, “Be By Myself,” a track featuring Cee-Lo is straight, next single ready, fire.

After a strong start, I feel the back half of this record really lacks. “As I Em,” a writing masterpiece for Roth, is about comparisons to Marshall Mathers, aka, Eminem. The beat has reggae tones, but the lines are delivered heavily. In addition to this, “Lion’s Roar,” succeeds thanks to a verse from Busta Rhymes which forces Roth to step up his game as well. However, past there two tracks, there are at least four I feel could be done away with entirely. “His dream” has solid writing ideas, but comes off as a weak Common track and, “Fallin'” is simply a weak ending.

I came into this record with high anticipation, but can’t say it still remains. Coming off of a hot mixtape to this is just disappointing. I’m not saying it’s dreadful and to anyone unfamiliar with his prior work it’s probably a solid record, but I know what he’s capable of and this is not a good example. It’s too dumbed down for me. Come on Asher, challenge us.

*Written By: James Shotwell*
Score: 5.5/10

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James Shotwell

James Shotwell is the founder of Under The Gun Review. He loves writing about music and movies almost as much as he loves his two fat cats. He's also the co-founder of Antique Records and the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. You should probably follow him on Twitter.

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