Asher Roth Blasts Off at Brooklyn Bowl, Digs Deep on Sophomore Album
Asher Roth turned Brooklyn Bowl upside down for the Hennessy Artistry Series kick-off on Wednesday night. “They take upcoming artists that have a foundation, they blend it together—music and culture,” the 25-year-old rapper tells staging-rapup.kinsta.cloud. “It’s respectable. It’s one of those no-brainers that you want to be a part of.” Inside the venue, the Pennsylvania native helped turn the party into a drinker’s and cannabis enthusiast’s heaven.
The show started off with a bang as Dominican-bred female MC Maluca took the stage, showcasing her mash-up of almost ever genre. The force of Gilbere Forte’ followed with an alternative rocker, poetic rap surge. As he ended with “Black Chukkas,” Asher appeared with “Lark on My Go-Kart,” the first of a series of complete neck-breaking rock-outs. The audience readily fed off the energy as the rapper rhymed through “Blunt Crusin’,” “Be By Myself,” and “Cannon.” Asher only took five to bump Biggie’s “Live Freestyle 95” and Styles P’s “I Get High” in order to hear the audience’s playback.
DJ Wreckineyez shined also, performing a short set akin to a cardio routine—spinning, holding one thigh, and turning tables with his nose. Asher motioned the end with “G.R.I.N.D.,” issued a dance break with Sugarhill Gang’s “Apache,” and freestyled on positivity and potential. His segueway to the fitting end, “I Love College,” was when he rapped, “When it’s all said and done I put my heart in this/ And I still find time for some party shit.”
During the event, Asher also took time to give insight into his sophomore release, The Spaghetti Tree. “It’s a story,” he explains. “Hopefully it’s going to be a film. The presentation on it is more important than anything else. It’s a story based on real events that stresses the importance of imagination.” The album, due in early 2011, will feature production from Pharrell, Nottz, Organized Noize, and Ryan Leslie. He delves deep on it, saying, “[I] talk about what other people aren’t talking about. Because if our generation doesn’t do it, nobody is going to.”
–Tanya Remekie