When I saw this track this morning on iTunes Store, I was so excited even before hearing the song. Are you kidding me !? Em, Lil Wayne, Kanye and Drake on the same track. This had the potential to be one of the greatest hip-hop tracks of all times. I listened to the 30-second preview on iTunes, and honestly, I was disappointed. Maybe I was expecting too much, but really, with a line-up like this, who wouldn’t !
Then I listened to the entire track, anxious to hear Em’s verse. Everyone is pretty good on the track, especially Kanye, but it is nothing exceptional. Then, last but not least, here he came ! Man, it was like a tsunami just hit this track. Call me crazy and call out every other number 1 hit Shady has done, but his verse in “Forever” is definitely one of his top 3 best ever. The lyrics are strong, the rhymes are clever and his flow is insane ! Why wasn’t this track on Relapse ? This was the missing piece to make Relapse the historic comeback-album it failed at being. Much respect to Wayne, Kanye and Drake, but Em owns this track…
By far my best discovery in music so far in 2009 is rapper Asher Roth. He’s one of the very few white rappers since Eminem to achieve success like this. His debut album entitled Asleep in the Bread Aisle launched on April 20th and is now already number 5 on the Billboard 200 chart.
His music gives a really new perspective to today’s hip-hop, with laid-back beats and lyrics that don’t contain the words “million, nigga, maybach, bitches” every 2 sentences.
Asher launched yesterday his new video for his single Be By Myself. John Christopher Pina, who’s no stranger to hip-hop videos with a portfolio including Kanye’s Champion and Common’s The Game, directed this original video. The art direction is very cool with body-painted girls overlaying clips of Asher rapping. The colors are vibrant and really give a nice contrast on the all-white background.
While I’m throwing roses at Asher, take the time to check out his Myspace page and listen to his parody of Lil Wayne’s A Milli song. It’s very engaged and gives a pretty good reality check to fortune-claiming rappers. And also, Asher gave an interview to Billboard recently. Worth checking out.
