New Video from Asher Roth (aka Rap’s Van Wilder)

You probably hate Asher Roth and have a slew of reasons for doing so. It’s only natural that a new white rapper will be grilled in the blogosphere and receive endless Eminem comparisons, but then again Asher isn’t really angling for hood acceptance.

When was the last time rap spoke directly to the college rap nerds and slackers who have so long supported the genre? How about never. It’s easy to write off chants of “Kegstand! Kegstand!” on his lead single “I Love College” as stupid, but have you been to a college party recently? It’s kind of a way of life for folks between midterms and finals.

The untapped fan base is there, but more importantly, Asher can actually spit. “I Love College” wasn’t exactly rife with dope one-liners, but his latest single “Lark on My Go-Kart” is. And that’s without resorting to fantastical tales of gun play and drug trafficking.  In fact, Asher’s honesty and disinterest in maintaining the facade of a “stereotypical” rapper may help him in the wake of Rick Ross’s exposure as a C.O.

On “Lark” he spits, “More metaphor, pedicure, get your feet fixed/walk in my shoes for a few you gon’ need it,” picking up on the lyricism that dominated his Don Cannon and DJ Drama hosted mixtape The Greenhouse Effect. Lines like “Razor Ramon flow, oh so sharp/You can take Kapowski, I’ma take Lark on my Go-Kart” also prove that there are random pop-culture references that Lil Wayne hasn’t yet made. (Btw, Lark is Lark Voorhies that played Lisa Turtle on Saved by the Bell.)

The White Rapper Show’s John Brown long ago crowned himself “King of the Burbz,” but that may be a title more apt for Mr. Roth. Nonetheless, Asher isn’t looking to spark any white-on-white beef, he seems perfectly content to be rap’s Van Wilder. We won’t get a complete idea of what Asher is bringing to the table until his debut album, Asleep in the Bread Aisle, drops on 4/20, but the lyrics, beat and video for “Lark on My Go-Kart” hint that Asher Roth has found an avenue all his own.

-Lukas Brekke-Miesner