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© Universal Records
As you can tell, Roth isn't your typical gangsta rapper. Bros and beer pong crop up more frequently than Crips and cocaine. Sadly, the production on his debut album is indistinguishable from any other high profile rap release, with charismatic appearances from Keri Hilson, Cee-Lo and Busta Rhymes, among others.
Music
The Beatles remastered in a magical mystery tour de force
After years of poor quality recordings, the world's most famous band finally gets a deluxe restoration.
The band's name is Princeton. [Insert joke here.]
It seems the inevitable will finally be achieved this Thursday at Terrace Club, with a band called —wait for it—Princeton!
Once Again, Freddie + Elton + George = Mika!
Mika: ridiculous, schmaltzy, annoying, overblown...and irresistible.
Weekend Picks: Sept. 24, 2009
Playing at Terrace on Saturday, The Books are known for mixing acoustic folk with found sounds. The band's about as "critically-acclaimed" as they come: Now you can decide.
Skinny, white and blond: Meet Asher Roth, the frat boy Slim Shady
Sure, Asher Roth is basically the first white rapper since Eminem to make it big–but the similarities end there.
Jada’s ‘The Last Kiss’: perhaps the year’s worst hookup
Jada can lay a verse like few others, but perhaps he should stick with kisses and not dabble in tonsil hockey.
Killers experiment on new album
Well, if there's one thing the Killers aren't, it's boring. Four years ago, the band burst out of nowhere with its terrifically dark, neon-flecked debut "Hot Fuss." Main influences: David Bowie, Duran Duran and the Cure. Result? A heady midnight mix of shimmering synths and spiky guitars that sounded ...
With multiple personalities, more isn't more
At 11 tracks and 41 minutes, Beyonce's "I Am ... Sasha Fierce" must rank as the shortest double album in history. Forty minutes on one disc would be measly enough, but on two it's nothing short of baffling - maybe she and Jay-Z just had a few hundred thousand blank ...
An uncurable Cure
Few things reek of the 1980s more than The Cure. Other '80s relics have maintained some relevance: Phil Collins wrote that Tarzan song, George Michael is still making headlines, and even Duran Duran managed to stage a comeback last year. It's difficult to imagine The Cure outside their heyday, ...
Change for the worse on Legend's latest effort
John Legend sure knows how to name his albums. His debut, "Get Lifted," truly lived up to its title, blasting the fairly unknown R&B singer to the top of the charts and bagging him three Grammy awards. It was an unmitigated triumph, possibly the best retro-soul album since Lauryn Hill ...
A decade later, can Oasis stage a comeback?
Ten years ago, Oasis was the biggest band in the world. It was compared to the Beatles, to Led Zeppelin, to The Who - to basically every big, dumb, classic rock band there ever was - and it spearheaded a long-delayed second British Invasion, alongside bands like Blur and Radiohead. ...
T.I. abandons talent for 'Trail' of bland hits
Two years ago, T.I. dropped "King," a swaggering, snarling triumph of an album that truly lived up to its title. It was the Southern rapper's best record yet, a brash, hedonistic and surprisingly menacing celebration of all things gangsta that also happened to be one of the best rap albums ...
Dance duo tries on a new, folkier sound
On their fourth album, "Seventh Tree," Alison Goldfrapp and her production partner Will Gregory have pulled off a drastic artistic about-face. Veering decisively away from the heady, pulsing dance music that made its name on the sonically ambitious "Black Cherry" (2003) and the poppier club terrain of "Supernature" (2005), the ...
A new sort of old-fashioned gentleman
Three years ago, Ne-Yo was an absolute nobody; just another teen pop singer in a market overflowing with them. Ever since his 2005 single "So Sick" topped charts across the world, however, the diminutive R&B crooner has steadily been working his way toward pop music domination. First, he penned Beyonce's ...
In a perfect world, pop albums wouldn’t be this lazy
You may not know it, but you’ve heard Keri Hilson before. Sure, “In a Perfect World” may be the 26-year-old R&B singer’s debut album, but it’s far from her first contribution to the pop charts.
Metallica returns to its roots with 'Death Magnetic'
It may be hard to remember now, but once upon a time, Metallica was pretty cool. Its first three albums alone - "Kill Em All," "Ride the Lightning" and "Master of Puppets" - remain untouchable classics to this day, all very influential and very, very loud. It's not often that ...
Guest artists barely improve weak Game
I'll be honest here: The Game is not a very talented rapper. He may look and act the part well (Tattoos! Bullet scars! Bling!), but his rapping leaves much to be desired. Technically, he's poor - a husky, gruff and really rather bland voice tempered with little rhythmic invention - ...
Lewis' 'X Factor' falls short
In her native Great Britain, Leona Lewis is on the verge of becoming a pop-culture phenomenon. Lewis won "The X Factor," Britain's equivalent of "American Idol," and her single "Bleeding Love" soared to the top of the U.K. charts and rounded out 2007 as the year's best-selling song, which is ...
Taking a spin with DJ Paul Han '10
For this week's Student Artists issue, ‘Street' talked to DJ Paul Han '10, who's spun everywhere from BlackBox to Cottage Club and is in charge of the long-running Princeton DJ organization "Street Soundz." Read on for an entertaining chat about the secrets of DJing, the pros and cons of the ...
MOMS rocks out in space suits
Miracles of Modern Science (or the catchy MOMS for short) has been around for three years, but ‘Street' is catching up with the group for a chat just on the verge of its big break: This summer, the band hopes to release its debut EP. Its sound is, the band ...
An 'Odd Couple' for this century
Gnarls Barkley's 2005 smash "St. Elsewhere" was an occasionally brilliant but mostly frustrating album. True, it boasted top-notch production from the now-ubiquitous Danger Mouse and gorgeous vocals from sometime-rapper Cee-Lo Green, and it had a woozy, offbeat Marvin Gaye-via-trip-hop vibe that was like little else in popular music. But too ...
Janet Jackson follows her siblings into mediocrity
"Discipline" certainly is the right name for Janet Jackson's so-called comeback album. Where her groundbreaking late-'80s, early-'90s pop masterpieces were breathlessly inventive, hook-filled joyrides, everything about this new record is safe, restrained and utterly unexciting. It really is a sad story. Like her brother, Janet Jackson could hardly be topped ...