Asher Roth appeared in Flint, Mich. on Nov. 19 at The Whiting. Known for the hit song “College,” he may have many fans, but that night the auditorium was pretty empty; it holds around 2,000 people, but only 200 or so showed, a very small crowd for a rap artist.

Stereotypes would suggest that more people would have been there, considering it’s a rap concert in Flint. Maybe Asher Roth isn’t considered a rapper. Just because he pretty much talks his lyrics as opposed to actually singing on most of his tracks, doesn’t make him a rapper.

According to dictionary.com a rapper is someone who performs
rap, but what makes music rap? Well apparently rap is “to talk rhythmically to the beat of rap music.” It looks like no one really knows what makes music rap music; definitions are vague and/or involved the word in the definition itself. There is no legitimate definition to compare Asher Roth to.

A genre of music, like rap, is determined on the content of the songs, the actual lyrics. Most rap songs are about sex, drugs and violence. A good chunk of Asher Roth’s songs are about just that. Does that make him a rapper?

There is also the stereotype that white people can’t be legit rappers, but what about Eminem, House of Pain, and Cypress Hill? They are all white and very successful professional rap artists. What sets Asher Roth apart from them? He is white and successful and sings about sex and drugs. Shouldn’t he be considered a rapper?

Who is to say whether Asher Roth is a rapper or any other kind of music artist? If someone can define what the word rapper really means or what it means to be a rapper, perhaps they can; or maybe the only person that can decided that is Asher Roth himself.