Ten years ago, the melanin-deficient sector of rap was forever changed. A man named Marshall Mathers topped the charts with his raw trailer-park hymns that balanced profanity with lyrical brilliance. Prior to Eminem's existence, hip hop had a handful of white rappers who paved the way, but Em was different, slicing colour lines with his sharp tongue and not focusing on the previous boom-bap but that mid-'90s griminess that the streets loved. Today, Eminem is the archetype for any white kid daring to pick up a microphone, but where does that leave someone who loves hip hop but hails from the outskirts rather than the inner city?

Enter Asher Roth. The Pennsylvania-born wordsmith is the polar opposite to Eminem. Sure, both look like they haven't set foot in the sun for a while, but Roth's approach to hip hop is dynamically different. If Eminem is a welfare cheque, then Asher is a student loan, spitting those collegiate rhymes that Kanye West ironically opened the doors for when he denounced higher education on his debut album. Despite the fact that Roth also bid his scholastic days adieu before graduating, his single I Love College became an anthem for university kids looking for a rap reference point. Unlike Eminem, Asher isn't an angry emcee: he's all smiles in person, laid back and lanky with a gingered blond mop of hair that doesn't seem to move, even when he gestures. He's witty in that way that college kids are when they're enlightened, and has no qualms about his middle-class suburban upbringing: in fact, that's exactly the audience he hopes to attract. He's clearly here to have fun, and is more of a thumbs-up kind of guy rather than a middle finger fella.

Roth has a unique battle ahead of him. Both he and Eminem have upcoming spring releases, and both have something to prove. Slim Shady has a career to revive and Asher has one to start. But the inevitable comparison doesn't worry him: he mentions Eminem first, explaining the influence of the elder emcee on his The Greenhouse Effect mixtape. As he readies his debut album, Asleep in the Bread Aisle, Roth explains that he's found his own voice and is ready to give the world a reason to believe the hype.

Archna Sawjani: So: debut album time. Who've you worked with?

Asher Roth: Well, the majority of the record is produced by my man Oren Yoel. Working with Oren is like making music with my best friend. I slept on his floor making a lot of this record. He's never had a placement so people are going to hear a major label debut with an artist that no one figured out yet and a producer that no one has ever heard before. For me that's so exciting.

AS: It's also a risk.

AR: Absolutely. So many people are like, 'What the hell is this kid doing, is he serious?' There is a safe route, but I don't get that. It's about making music organically. I also understand the responsibility to sell records. I successfully made my album my way and appeased the label because that in some essence is what having a major label album debut is about: compromise. Playing the game but by your own rules. But we do have DJ Cannon on there as well and Knox, so there are some names. Artists-wise Cee-Lo is on the album, Estelle, DA Wallach of Chester French, but I also didn't want to litter it with guests.

AS: A lot of the people you mentioned are still relatively new.

AR: Exactly. That was intentional. You notice with the likes of Dr Dre, Kanye, Timbaland, Pharrell, they all have a signature sound. When you hear the beat, you already know it's their beat, so in return it makes a lot of albums sound the same because those are go-to producers. So here I am, working with Oren and no one's ever heard him before and that's what's exciting to me. I am excited for people to hear my album and say, 'I've never heard this before.' That's all I want. A lot of people really just don't listen to music; they may automatically turn me down as I'm a white kid. They already have these preconceived notions rather than being like, 'I'm just going to listen to this with an open mind and ears.' So it's going to be interesting to see how people listen to the album. I hope people will chill, forget about all the nonsense, forget about all the comparisons, forget about all the bullshit and what label I'm on, forget about everything and just listen to the album. I think they will be pleasantly surprised.

AS: Your freestyle over the A Milli beat kind of reminded me of the Andre 3000 verse on the Walk It Out remix, in the sense that he flipped the script and dropped some knowledge instead.

AR: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was a hot verse. Andre is incredible. Him and I, in terms of message, I think are similar. It's important to be yourself and it's important to be genuine and sincere. Especially since you have a responsibility to the kids who are listening. So to glorify all the wrong things - especially how influential hip hop is - it's unfortunate. I was a twelve year old emulating everything I saw through hip hop, so now that I'm in this position, I don't think it's very appropriate to glorify anything negative. Though I do have a pornographic side to some of my music, just a little, but that's just me being a 23-year-old male [laughs].

AS: I've noticed! Your sense of humour comes across in your music.

AR: It's important. Especially as a white rapper, you have to be able to laugh a little at yourself and not take it all too seriously. At the same time [Asleep in the Bread Aisle] is not going to be a comedy CD, but I think you have to have a sense of humour because people want to laugh and enjoy themselves when listening to music. I don't really want to get to a dark place and be unhappy when listening to music personally. I'd much rather have a smile on my face.

AS: OK, so let's rewind a little and go back to your upbringing. You were raised in the suburbs of Morrisville, near Philadelphia, right?

AR: Yeah, that's right. Growing up in Morrisville, it was just really quiet. My lifestyle being young was just straight up little league baseball and going to the pool, you know? It was just lawns and strollers. I was always outside looking in with hip hop. As I grew older, I'd be hanging out with friends who listened to hip hop; after school I would hang around and beatbox for some people. I think it was at 13, 14, my most impressionable ages, that I really started to dig hip hop. It was one of the last forms of music that got into the house. The first hip hop CD I bought was Jay-Z's Blueprint Volume 2 - so it was like Top 40 rap: it wasn't like what hip hop was built off of. Then I started to go back and that's when the likes of A Tribe Called Quest, The Roots and all that kind of stuff started to hit me really hard. It was never about the idea of making money to me, it was about delivering a message, being yourself and expressing yourself rather than, 'Let's make a ringtone'.

So, yeah: I started in Morrisville, went to Pennsbury high school, graduated, went to Westchester University in Pennsylvania, was there for two years and was always just rapping and hanging out. I think everybody does that, right? Hang out, maybe have a drink or something and then you freestyle with your friends in the corner, but it got to the point where I started writing songs and that's what started to differentiate myself from my friends who freestyled for fun. I was taking it to the next level and becoming a songwriter. I think that's what's really going to be seen on the album: my songwriting abilities. There's much more than just straight rapping. I think that's very important.

So I was just a white kid from the suburbs, who was influenced by hip hop. I speak up, say what I really want to say and it just turns out that a lot of people feel the same way. In a way it's unfortunate that a lot of people are hearing me first through I Love College because it's not really what I represent. I mean, I understand it and I wrote the song so I stand by it, but I didn't really know what I was doing when I wrote I Love College; I was just missing college at the time.

AS: I know you dropped out of college, so the single is kind of ironic, right?

AR: Yeah, I dropped out. I Love College is me in retrospect saying, 'Wow, I miss that life.' It's not about me wanting to be at college for the rest of my life or me not being happy with where I am now in life. It's kind of like an ode to college; to say I was there. I'm not there any more, and I wish I could still be there. I didn't even know what I was doing when I wrote I Love College. That song taught me a valuable lesson: Don't doubt yourself. Because I thought it sucked. I hated it. I really thought it was awful, but my boy comes up during my writing session and I was like 'This is stupid,' and he was like 'Nah man, you need to keep running with that. That's dope shit.' Now it's become this college anthem and it's a staple of my career, which is crazy. But I have so much more to offer than that. I just hope people have the patience.

AS: I'll be honest: when I first heard I Love College, I was a little disappointed as your mixtape showed you could do so much more.

AR: Yeah, I totally agree. In a way I am kind of happy about it though, as I'd much rather do it this way; start low and go up rather than stay at the same pace for a long time. I know how many songs that I have that are so much more compared to I Love College. Truthfully, I think that I Love College is probably the worst song that I have written.

AS: It's good for the radio.

AR: Of course, and that's good for my album. I understand that when you sign on that dotted line with a major record label, you have a responsibility to sell records. If you don't want to play the game then you should just chill and do it independently. I Love College is a slight compromise but at the same time I stand by every word of it. I would hate to have any regrets on this album. Everything I do now is under a microscope. Everything I say, I got to come with it.

AS: So have you felt pressure to commercialise your music or your look for the label?

AR: Yeah. That pressure is there all the time. The label probably wanted 11 or 12 tracks exactly like I Love College on the album. That's what the mixtape was about - it was about not conforming to the pressure of money and just being myself. I mean, I'm a really laid back kind of guy, just chillin', sweatshirt inside out, shoes dirty. I mean, look at me! [laughs] That's just who I am. I still think that if you're genuine, no matter what you look like and you are just like, 'Look, this is me,' then people are going to appreciate that.

I think it's more about being comfortable: if you're not then people pick up on that. You know when girls wear skirts too short because they think that's what guys want and boys will look at them because of it, and they end up spending the whole night constantly trying to pull the skirt down? You can just tell that they're not comfortable and I really feel it's about dressing for comfort and being yourself. Stepping into the music industry, you're pretty much exposed with all aspects of life: they want to know who you're dating, who you fancy, who you're beefing with, pretty much everything but the music you know? For me, I don't want any of that to matter. Do I want to start a revolution? A little bit. A part of me wants to be like, 'Fuck all that shit, it's all bullshit, it's all made up.' You don't have to wear Nike and drink Gatorade to be cool. Being cool is being yourself and enjoying yourself.

AS: But the whole sweatshirt back to front, dirty trainers thing... people will say that's the look you are going for, the image you want to portray.

AR: Oh, absolutely. People are already saying that I'm trying hard to get away from all the Eminem comparisons with my image. Honestly, I can't even pay attention to all that stuff because once I do then they win. Haters win. The hate, I use it like a battery. You need your positive and negative, it's a parallel you need, it keeps everything in balance. So do I pay attention and listen to it? Absolutely not. But you need that negative energy...

AS: So you find the Eminem comparisons negative?

AR: I mean, it's not negative to be compared to Eminem, but I just feel people are not giving me the chance to be me. They automatically group me in with the only other white rapper they know.

AS: Do you not see resemblances between you both besides being white?

AR: Yeah I do. I'm a child of hip hop; Eminem came out when I was in seventh grade. In sixth, seventh and eighth grade you're probably your most impressionable. So, hell yeah I was listening to Eminem. Who wasn't? He was the number one selling hip hop artist of all time! Even the [Greenhouse Effect] mixtape still had aspects of me being influenced by all the artists I listen to, but with this album I finally got to a point where I really found my voice. That was really important. This album really is me. I just hope people give it a chance.

AS: Everyone is inspired or influenced by someone else, it's impossible not to be.

AR: Exactly. That's just what happens. There are acts and artists that inspire you and make it seem like you can do this. Em for white kids, who want to rap; he makes it seem possible, and that you can be successful. Eminem is successful, he can rap and he's embraced by the black community. Hip hop is essentially black music, so Eminem is obviously someone that any white kid who wants to rap would look up to. Saying all that, I'm still my own person with my own style. Like if I came into this interview wearing doo-rags and emulating Eminem, I would look foolish. We are two drastically different human beings, and the audiences we are speaking to are totally separate.

Honestly, who was more inspiration to me was Mos Def and [Talib] Kweli. Those two, when I really started listening to hip hop, I was like, 'Wow.' The message was so inspirational. Em was too angry for me. Em was so focused on speaking to the frustrated youth, and here I am speaking to middle class America: people who go to high school and then go to college and may not be sure what they even want to do and end up in a cubicle. A lot of the kids I speak to who are my friends from college are in that exact situation: they constantly tell me how they hate their jobs and they're not doing what they want to be doing. I'm just happy that I can honestly say that I am doing something that I want to be doing and that I love. I didn't come here to get rich. More money, more problems is very serious; that's very real. I've already got to a point where if I get a cheque then I start to feel weird and start mistrusting people.

AS: Already?

AR: Yeah, and it's over, like, a thousand dollars. I'm not used to that stuff. I'm used to seeing 200-dollar pay cheques, you know what I mean? From waiting tables and stuff. I don't really like the way money makes me feel. I get my fulfilment from performing, when the lights are off and you go on stage and people going crazy already, before you even say anything, that's like, 'YES!' That's the reason I do it - because if this was about the money, I would seriously be out so fast. Does everybody want to be financially free? Absolutely - especially in a country like the US. But the one thing I am going to do if I get some money is buy myself some time. I'm going to go chill. Like, look at my shoes - I effed my shoes up real quick. [laughs] Do I own a pair of Jordans? Absolutely, but I feel when I wear them, I'm neurotic. There's too much shoe, there's too much going on my feet and I don't like it. With the cars, I don't want to drive a car that I'm scared to crash. Everyone wants nice things, but that's really not my motivation. That kind of stuff makes me feel awkward. I've never been money orientated.

AS: Kid Cudi recently mentioned that he's already seeing all the industry politics especially with the XXL Top Ten Freshman cover where you, Wale, B.o.B, and Charles Hamilton got the main cover and you all have major album deals and the rest got inside covers. Have you experienced any politics against you?

AR: Well, I am a white rapper. [laughs] It's really hypocritical. It's like you're only successful because you're white and then they push white rappers down all the time. Can I say it's been beneficial to be white? Absolutely. You know how many white kids are influenced by and love hip hop? A lot. It's still white America, it really is. It's the way it is. You know people think that I'm trying to exploit black music and it's like, how do I explain this is who I am? This is the music I have been influenced by. I'm excited for people to hear the album. That's all I want to happen - for people to hear the album and to understand that this is really who I am. It's not what I do. Hip hop is not a colour; it's a culture.

It's time to get away from the race thing. People are always contradicting themselves; I made it 'cos I'm white and yet white rappers are constantly not given a chance. 'What can a white kid from the 'burbs tell me? It's a gimmick.' It really is an uphill battle. All types of shit people say. You just can't win.

AS: Who do you really rate out of all the new wave of artists?

AR: I haven't heard much of Drake, but a lot of people are talking about him so I want to check his mixtape out. I think Blu is so dope. I think Below the Heavens was one of the best albums put out in a minute. Cudi and I got to spend some time together in Vegas, and I like where his head's at. Charles is a homey of mine even though he is confusing me right now with the controversy, but I called him and asked him straight: 'Look, are you trying to stir the pot on purpose?' And he said, 'No, not at all,' but I'm not sure what's going on with that. Creatively he is a very interesting guy.

AS: You don't come across as a beef kind of artist.

AR: No, not at all. I'm not into that. It's a waste of energy.

AS: What if someone went at you?

AR: It totally depends. It's like fighting. I've been in one fight in my life and I was, like, eight years old. It wasn't really even a fight, it was just rolling around on the ground. I'm a buck-40, what am I going to do, you know what I mean? I'm a little guy. The whole beef thing, I understand the competitive edge of hip hop, and I totally respect the battle scene. There are guys who are straight-up battle rappers, and I'm more into songwriting and delivering a message rather than getting caught up in all that.

I feel really positive about the new wave of artists. There is absolutely a youth movement right now. It's the first time in a long time. Lupe Fiasco was really the only the other artist that broke in and was young. But there was never really a youth movement - a bunch of artists all breaking in - and now it's happening. It's interesting; it's going to be fun to watch what happens.

I think it's a really exciting time in hip hop. I think hip hop right now, really is not dead by any stretch of the imagination, it's just changing. I was speaking to my man Peter Rosenberg; you can't only be a fan of, say '89 to '95, because then you're not a real fan of hip hop. You have to appreciate the fact when a change is happening, you have to change with it and understand what's going on. Did hip hop get lost for a while and get all caught up in money, bling, and ringtones? Yes. But it's coming back now. A lot of the kids, well some of us but I'll just speak for myself, are not money motivated. For me it's just about having fun. If I wasn't having fun in this then what the hell am I doing it for? This is supposed to be fun and saying something. I can only say how great I am so many times! [laughs]