DX: So these days, there’s the usual list of outside projects that a rapper apparently has to have, so can we expect an Asher Roth clothing line? Liquor? Movie? Videogame?
Asher Roth: [Laughs] You always wanna explore your possibilities. This is still a capitalistic country. My chase is for freedom and you have to be financially free in this country to get that. Of course there’s gonna be some side entertainment here and there but I don’t like, need to put out a line of tuxedos or anything.

DX: Speaking of the possibilities of Hip Hop capitalism, tell me about when you met Jay-Z…
Asher Roth: Aw man, that was crazy. I got into Hip Hop when I was 13 or 14 years old as I was starting to be cognizant and form my own opinions and Jay was the first rap CD I ever bought. That was Volume 2. It wasn’t even Reasonable Doubt, it was Volume 2. That’s how late I got into Hip Hop. When I met him, I walked in and I thought I was gonna go rap for some girls. I was with [Def Jam VP] Shakir Stewart and we talking about Hip Hop and he really liked what I was doing so he was like “I want you to come rap for one of my friends.” I thought we were about to go rap for these females so I clear my throat and sure enough, I make a hard right and Jay-Z’s [click to read] walking towards me with his like, aura glowing. I just walked out of the room like “oh shit,” but I regained my composure and came back and rapped. He was taken aback; he really liked it and was like “You’re nice, man, you’re nice.” I paid my homage and told him where he came into my life and that I appreciated him and that was that.

DX: Obviously you’re a fan of Jay but it kinda sounds like you were taking a few swipes at him on the “Roth Boys” freestyle.
Asher Roth: You know, everyone’s gonna have their own competitive edge, that’s just human nature. When I rapped for Jay, I really wanted him to just hug me and shed a single tear and say I was the best thing that ever happened but it didn’t work out that way. This is the music business, after all, and some of the decisions that were made were kind of a slap in the face to me as an artist but… Jay doesn’t have a regret in the world; he’s living the life. Like, THE LIFE, bold, italics, underlined. Jay’s very influential and I just wanted the hug and the single tear but it didn’t happen.

DX: So when you were rapping on his track and said “this is the same thing that happened on ‘Renegade’…”
Asher Roth: [Laughs] Uh, you know, I mean... I went off on that beat, I blacked out.

DX: Okay, okay, we’ll leave that one alone. So how did that transition into your deal with SRC?
Asher Roth: Steve [Rifkind] didn’t want me to leave the building. He had me battle one of his interns for him - shoutout to Gordo - and he asked everybody what they thought. They were like “He’s dope, he’s real dope,” so we closed the doors and talked about it and… Steve gets it. He just wants me to be me. He wasn’t like “This is the next Em,” he understood that I was who I was and no one’s gonna be able to change that. He told me to go make the music and he allowed me to be creative. He just told me “go do you and I’m here. I got your back.” In a day and age where artist development no longer exists, they’re just going for that single or that ring tone, it’s very important that artists get to be themselves.

DX: With the role of record labels changing, it definitely means that you have to take up the slack for things that the label or MTV used to do. Once the buzz on the web wears off, how will you make sure people still care?
Asher Roth: You can’t pussyfoot… you gotta come out and you gotta be yourself because you only have one or two shots. I built a loyal fan base around home so I may have had a lot of friends in my home town that would be like "Ash is dope, Ash is dope” but by the time it got out to the internet, you only have those first three songs your MySpace before people say “Awesome, I’m gonna keep tuning in” or “Eff this, I’m not hearing it.” There’s just so much going on that people don’t have time. I get these long, six paragraph emails from people and it’s like “I can’t read all that” so it’s the quick, six-word ones that I’ll be more likely to respond to.

It’s the same thing with your music. I want people to be able to listen to my music and understand it. I grew up loving lyrical music and I think it’s important to have lyrics and substance, but at the same time, if people don’t understand me, that doesn’t make me creative. It’s not dumbed down at all, but I was definitely in a phase for a while where I was writing so much intricate shit that I had to step back and examine it and I wasn’t realty feeling it. I was looking at it like “Yo, this guy is lyrically nasty” but I didn’t feel the music. For this past year or two, I was able to sit down and be like “What do I want to accomplish, who do I want to be?” and it really helped me simplify my music and making it more relatable. Continued on page 4 »