Issue date: 5/1/09 Section: The Verge

Asher Roth released his debut album "Asleep in the Bread Aisle" April 20, and has already made it to the list of the top albums on iTunes.

Roth has reached celebrity status because of his hit song "I Love College," in which he gives a great glimpse of the college lifestyle that is barely exaggerated.

As of now, his video on YouTube has had over six million views, and it has been out for about two months.

His first hit is undeniably hard to love and has become the anthem to college students all over.

The question is, though, can his debut hip-hop album live up to his hit?

At first, "Asleep in the Bread Aisle" seemed as though Roth was throwing in anything that rhymed, exhausting the use of different names for marijuana and bragging about his popularity with women.

Although his songs start off as though all he will be rapping about is getting high in "Blunt Cruisin'" and having sex in "Lion's Roar," each song grows into a subject that makes him win you over a little bit more.

Fortunately for Roth, his wit and careless bad-boy attitude is entertaining.

Some of Roth's songs feature beats that may sound familiar.

"I Love College" uses the beat from Weezer's "Say It Ain't So," and "She Don't Wanna Man" uses the beat from "London Calling" by The Clash.

Roth is aided by other artists such as Cee-Lo, Busta Rhymes, New Kingdom, Chester French and Jazze Pha on the album.

On one of Roth's songs that features Cee-Lo, titled "Be By Myself," Roth is vocal about his need to be a free bird and just wants to have fun without being tied down.

The song is probably difficult to listen to for some because, unfortunately, it may be a familiar story.

However, he counter claims the song by another with "She Don't Wanna Man," which is about a girl who just wants to dance and does not want a man around her.

Both songs give a side of the story from the opposite sex.

Although he does brag a lot in his lyrics, Roth reveals that he is fighting against critics and their judgments.

Roth voices his concern for his haters in several of his songs.

He fights against his constant comparison to Eminem in the song "As I Em," saying "But they keep relating me, I can't get away/Chasing me/I hear it/And now the masters think that Asher/ Wants to be a Marshall Mathers/They say Ashers not a rapper/Na his a-- is just an actor/Cause we have the same complexion/And similar voice inflection."

When Roth is not defending himself, he also attributes to our economic crisis in "Sour Patch Kids." He raps about how the Fortune 500 runs our country, and in one line of his song he says "Cause poverty is probably our biggest problem/And it ain't gonna stop with Obama."

Roth obviously knows that he comes off as a wannabe Marshall Mathers, but he is taking advantage of having his voice heard whether it is about him having sex, getting high, playing beer pong or addressing important issues.

He admits on his MySpace music page that he is skinny, he rapped 150 bars to Jay-Z in his office on the spot and he has porn on the computer.

His MySpace page and his songs prove that he is not a fake.

He realizes not everyone will accept him, which is one good quality that every new musician needs to make it in the business.

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