DX: So at what point did you start leaning towards the more political topics?
Asher Roth: It’s just recently as I’m growing up. I’m still just a kid and growing up through this whole thing. I think that’s just the age we’re living in; what we want from out music and what we want from our politics is just honesty. People are tired of being lied to, tired of the bullshit. Like I said, I can only speak for myself but I’m entitled to my opinions and I feel like we’re at a point where… it’s kinda fucked up. It’s pretty fucked up. That’s why I’m a full supporter of Barack Obama. Is he gonna change everything in one fell swoop? No, but it’s still a change. It’s something new and it’s something different and it’s just what we need.

DX: You mentioned going to an after school Hip Hop workshop? Were there a lot of other kids trying to rappers in your school?
Asher Roth: It was definitely the ‘burbs but there were a good 10 or 15 kids who were influenced by Hip Hop and we all shared a common interest so we’d get together. It’s funny, with me I was never like “I need to get a deal,” or “I wanna be the biggest rapper on the planet.” It was never like that. I was just influenced by music and I enjoyed spending my free time making the music and rapping over beats. The music made me feel good and I think that’s something I try to portray in my music. I wanna listen to music that like, puts a smile on your face and makes you feel uplifted. This world’s not perfect; there’s times when you’re pissed off. There’s times where you’re frustrated and there’s times when I’ll be able to share that pain on the other side the spectrum, but for the most part, I want my music to be warm and uplifting.

DX: Was there a particular artist or record that made you decide to go from a fan to an artist?
Asher Roth: I’m inspired by all music, but when I was listening to like, Arrested Development, The Roots’ [click to read] Things Fall Apart, Mos Def’s Black on Both Sides… albums like that, it’s dope and it’s got a soul to it. It’s timeless. I don’t want to put out a project that’s like, cool for a weekend. I wanna attach myself to timeless music. The mixtape was cool, I just wanted to showcase the versatility and that I could do a lot of stuff. Now for the album, I wanna write real songs. I wanna do collaborations, but real collaborations, not just where I send over a beat to somebody. I think [the album is] so authentic and so organic and so about the music that I think the real people will respect it. Back in that day - well, I hate to say “back in the day” but - people used to go in and do real collaborations. I mean, I understand now that people have their own agendas, but this is a movement that’s really about music.

DX: Those artists and albums are known for a lot of heavy black political content. Were you identifying with the specific message or the spirit?
Asher Roth: It’s not a race thing with me; we’re human. When I speak about this stuff I want everyone to get past it. I’m a huge [Bob] Marley fan, for instance and on the record “War” he’s talking about there’s always gonna be war until the color of a man’s skin is no more significant than the color of his eyes. That’s kinda where I’m at. I’m so past the race thing that it’s not even in my world at all but a lot of people aren’t. I come here speaking about where I’m from and how I feel about it and everyone’s like, “Whoa, slow down, we’re not there yet.” It’s been kid of an eye opener for me because I’m seeing that while I know there are other people that feel like that but it’s not ready to get brought to the mainstream. They’ve been scared about topics of conversations like this. Here I am thinking “it doesn’t need to be a topic of conversation” but like, I think there’s still some air to be cleared.

DX: The topic of race certainly surrounds you though. For instance, when your name comes up, it’s pretty typical to hear comparisons to Eminem. How much of that is legitimate and how much is just a knee-jerk reaction because you’re white?
Asher Roth: Eh… I think it’s too easy. “A white emcee with a sense of humor and a political side? Oh, let’s compare him to Em!” There’s only a handful… not even a handful, there’s probably like, three or four white rappers that actually had an impact on Hip Hop and I’ve been making strides so that I can be considered a contender and have an impact on Hip Hop as a whole. It is what it is, but as far as my content and my image, I think we’re different artists. I have nothing but respect for him though; he made it possible for me to be here, he opened the doors, but we come from an entirely different inspiration. Continued on page 3 »