Album Review

Asher Roth – G.R.I.N.D.

• 27th Jul 2010

The sentiments expressed in this song are nondescript inspirational regurgitation – the rhetoric of it, however, works. Asher’s rhythmically well assembled, if somewhat inane, poetry is delivered with an earnest inflection welcomely devoid of the alpha male saliva-in-your-face ego or the tits-etc. chauvinism found in the majority of mainstream hip hop. As well as this, the drum beat and fuzzy organ that drive his words forward are nice and summery.

The instant microwave chorus will see that this tune does well for itself: its chord progression and melody are annoying but memorable, and more importantly it sounds like Toploader. The spoken word middle-eight is preachy as hell, but innocuously so and actually pretty affirming if it catches you off guard: “happiness isn’t about getting what you want all the time, it’s about loving what you have” – it’s cute and there are none of us that don’t need reminding of it from time to time. One can somehow picture Asher performing this track on children’s TV, or touring primary schools with it, but that accessibility isn’t particularly offensive in this case, and it’s easy to warm to the music after a single listen.

Naturally, there is no captivating voice here, as there is with the likes of Sage Francis, Aesop Rock, or the indie-crossover rappers of Anticon – Roth’s lyrics could not dream of possessing that level of gravity or imagination – but an artist working in this more straightforward and approachable area of hip-hop (in the circles of Kid Cudi and B.O.B., being championed by Pharrell Williams, and so on) is not asked for this by his audience. Broad pop rap and all the finer for knowing it.