Asher Roth blows.

I'm sure you've heard 'I Love College' at this point. The ubiquitous frat-boy anthem has been all over radio and MTV, care of pigment-free rapper Asher Roth and Warner Music Group (so groundbreaking!). I've been on rants about how much ass this song has sucked since day one, with the faux-Kanyeisms in the verse and the lazily performed chorus -- I can't help but call bullshit.



But something was nagging me on this one. Maybe it was the lyrics, which were a little too reminiscent of my own time in school, or maybe it was the suspicion that I was hating merely because it's some overprivileged whitey rapping. Then I realized what it was, why I couldn't 100% dismiss this dude --

This song is an amazing country song.

Look at the lyrics, and the chorus! This track is right up the alley of "Chicken Fried" or "I Love This Bar", complete with verses listing stuff that Mr. Roth likes, the classic contemporary country move on display in yesterday's BFMH post. The chorus even has the laid-back tinge of tracks from Brad Paisley or even Garth Brooks, except delivered in a focus group-tried deadpan engineered to appeal to the ringtone set, not the Wrangler crowd. Still, lyrics like "hold the beer bong / nothing wrong with a little fun / even if we did get a little too gone," Roth can't fool me with his shitty marketing plan -- he wrote a country drinkin' song.

If you amp up the twang on the song, you kind of have a contemporary country killer, as evidenced by Youtube fan William King...



I'm not saying it's country because he's a white dude rapping, I'm saying that if you write a country song and dress it up as hip hop, it'll be as shitty as Asher Roth. So, Mr. Roth, once you put down the mic and pick up a cowboy hat, we can be cool.

Til then, Asher Roth fucking blows.

The unholy union of rap and country, gone awesomely right.

One of 2008's most surprising breakout acts was the "hick-hop" innovator Cowboy Troy, whose rap-meets-country stylings blew away the country world, with a self-proclaimed "combination of intense rap lyrics, shredding guitar licks, and fiddle, banjo, and steel guitar." Well, consider me sold.

Country Troy has the market cornered for Lynyrd Skynrd-meets-Tone Löc jams, and his chorus about 'playing chicken with the train' sounds edgy while still remaining safely in the canon of things that country stars sing about, which include:

- Why the singer is badass
- Being lonely
- Why things are better in America/back in the day/in a small town/at a bar
- Drinking
- Women
- Picking fishing over women*

Troy excels in category one of country lyrics, but could stand to bring more nostalgia into the picture -- where are the lyrics about drinking in a small town? That said, Cowboy Troy still breaks it down pretty raw, and gets across a hip hop edge that makes "I Play Chicken With The Train" both really weird and extremely awesome. I'd wear some Wranglers and drink some Coors to this one.



That said, Cowboy Troy is really not bringing a serious urban edge to country music. That challenge was already fulfilled by Toby Keith himself back in 2001 with "I Wanna Talk About Me." Now THIS is country-rap at its best, complete with really insightful lyrics about relating to women and scenes with Toby taking on the role of the cop AND the streetwise pimp - dude is breaking down gender and class barriers while reaching out to an urban audience saying "hey, country GETS YOU". It's grittier than Cowboy Troy, and definitely more connected to the hip hop audience.



So do your homework, Cowboy Troy, and MAYBE you can reach the heights of hick-hop legends like Mr. Keith.


* Okay, that might just be Brad Paisley's "I'm Gonna Miss Her", but it really deserves it's own category.

ED. NOTE: Some of you might try and debate about Kid Rock's standing in the hick-hop canon. I ask that you read about Mr. Rock blowing it at Stagecoach 2009 here, and see why I ignored him. Is it sad that he'll live his life as the dude who never again hit the heights of 'Bawitdaba'?