Asher Roth talked about Eminem, 2009 XXL Freshman Cover, and more on Drink Champs.
Asher Roth, a 2009 XXL Freshman Cover alum, has had his fair share of media attempting to link his music to Eminem’s influence. He defied authority and recorded “As I Em,” to which he received a positive reception. Asher Roth, the Pennsylvania rapper recently sat down with NORE, DJ EFN on their show show “Drink Champs”, along with Mickey Factz and Blu. The 36-year-old rapper who featured in the 2009 XXL Freshman Cover, was compared to the Detroit Rapper Eminem in his early days. On the show, they brought up the same topic and asked Asher Roth his point of view on the Eminem comparisons.
“I mean, It’s tough, but at the end of the day, It’s banter, It’s Media,” says Asher Roth on comparison with Eminem. “It’s like people have to talk about something. Em is generational, as far as his appeal and the numbers he was doing. And there’s kind of a white rapper quota. There’s only allowed to be so many in the mainstream. As a white rapper, yes when you bring up beastie boys, part of the culture but also a visitor at the same time. Especially as a kid coming from the burbs, I’m a product of hip-hop and rap music and what it’s been able to accomplish, and the voices that they’ve been able to put on a platform and inspire kids like myself. Em was part of that group of people who we listen to and like, oh, cool, I guess I can rhyme too. But as far as even just who I am as a person, rhyme style, everything, that for me was kind of in one ear out the other. That was for other people to discuss.”
N.O.R.E. also believes that Eminem targets any white rapper in order to keep them in control. Asher could only affirm it based on his own experience, but he added that he didn’t view it as an offense, but rather as a recognition. And that he could have gotten a lot more out of it than he did. Then Asher also talked about Eminem throwing shots at him on “The Marshall Mathers LP 2” album. “Em threw shots at me before, not really but yeah,” he said. “It kinda felt like a compliment. It’s like a benchmark. But my focus is so much on education and even where I’m at in Philadelphia. It was never about getting into beef with somebody and sell more records. If I was more into the entertainment industry and a little bit more understanding of even like ‘let me beef with this and it will put me on a little bit more of a pedestal so I can sell more records’. That was never really my goal so I actually shied away from the entertainment side just to be able to do what I was focused on. For better or for worse.”
Asher Roth, Mickey Factz, and Blu also talked about featuring on the iconic 2009 XXL Freshman cover, which also featured Kid Cudi, Curren$y, Wale, B.O.B., Ace Hood, Charles Hamilton, and Corey Gunz.
Watch the interview below.
