I have to give Asher Roth some credit.  I did not expect very much out of a mixtape called Pabst & Jazz from the “I Love College” guy.  It’s possible that Asher himself was aware of the mainstream’s not-so-hot expectations for his product and took care to fit as many rhymes into his 64-minute tape as possible, just to prove he could.  At first, the three-rhyme-a-line style is impressive.  Then it becomes repetitive, until finally, for better or worse, it starts sounding like a Mac Miller tape.

There are a few times on the tape when Roth delivers some truly thoughtful lines, there’s a few more when you don’t know what the hell he’s getting at, and there’s a lot when he seems like he’s just listing things that have nothing in common besides their rhyme schemes, all three often on the same song.  For example, on “Common Knowledge”: “Climb the ladder of success, skipping and missing a step.”  Brilliant.  “Cause there’s no crying in baseball, and that’s that.”  Um, good to know?  “Next year, net year, jet Lear, get near.”  Okay Asher, there’s no way you reasonably expected anyone to interpret this as a coherent thought if they took the time to google your lyrics.  Nice try though.

Pabst & Jazz is definitely feature-heavy, but he doesn’t make the Mac Miller I Love Life mistake of lining up heavy hitters that overshadow or even knock him out of the park.  Even though the guest list runs long, numbering nearly 20, all of the guests compliment without outshining Asher.  In fact, because some of the emcees flow so similar to Roth, it can be quite jarring to hear an n-bomb dropped out of nowhere on “Useless,” causing you to get ready to organize boycotts of Asher Roth’s music before you realize, “oh wait that wasn’t him, it was Pac Div.”  The secondary effect is to raise questions about racial (dis)harmony in the 21^st century and kudos to Asher if that was his intent, but I’ve already given him some credit for thoughtful lines and I don’t know if I can stomach any more props.

The production on the tape is, as the title would suggest, uber-hipstery.  Laid-back drums, jazz samples, and slow-to-mid-tempos.  It’s hard to imagine anyone really cranking these things on a joy ride around the block trying to blow out their subwoofers.  In fact, the only setting I can really picture anyone playing this tape is in a smoke-filled dorm room or parked car in the suburbs and I don’t think Asher Roth would even mind that.  However, I can’t finish this review without giving props to the production on “More Cowbell,” which uses exactly the SNL skit you’re thinking of as the basis for the beat.  Like most of the lyrics on the tape, it’s completely random, and like the tape’s best moments, it’s clever enough to crack a smile on even the most anti-“College” listeners out there.

3 / 5 bars

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Asher Roth – Common Knowledge

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Asher Roth – Useless (Feat. Pac Div)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Asher Roth – More Cowbell