by Jesse McCartney ft. Ludacris
(Hollywood)
This is about as flyweight a record as you could try to seriously
review. I have no problem with bubblegum, synths, or even cloying
sweetness when they’re deployed with an active imagination and/or
intelligence. This, though, is as vibrant as a squashed slug, and when
Ludacris phones in his verse, you just wish he’d go under a bridge
already.
What made me curious at all? Simple: I’m a Beatles geek. Alarm bells
went off in my head when I saw this particular artist-title combo enter
the Hot 100 three weeks ago (in the low 90s; it’s since jumped to
number 39). The reason, of course, is that “How Do You Sleep?” is the
name of one of John Lennon’s meanest songs, aimed at a different
McCartney, ex-songwriting partner Paul. (It appears on 1971’s
Imagine.) “Those freaks was right when they said you was dead,”
Lennon snarled as George Harrison cut in with sneering slide guitar, as
flatly vicious a dis as anything in the Nas/Jay-Z feud. Paul isn’t
related to Jesse—at least, he wasn’t until now—but while
I’d love to think it cosmically appropriate for a fellow McCartney to
reclaim the song title, after listening to the record, I’m sorry I even
noticed a resemblance.
by Asher Roth
(SchoolBoy/Loud/SRC)
Speaking of resemblances, guess what Eminem and Brad Nowell of
Sublime’s idiot child sounds like? Answer: this guy, with his
self-explanatory track title, ideas and flow that struggle to catch up
with his incredibly basic concept, and recent Hot 100 jump-in—he
debuted at 55 two weeks ago. I’m proud to say that the first time I
attempted to listen to it, I made it all the way to the 0:29 mark
without hurling. The rest of you may not be so lucky.
With this song, we have incontrovertibly entered the era in which
the YouTube novelty is an official menace. When Roth drawls, “Drink my
beer and smoke my weed/But my good friends is all I need,” over a
rhythm track that sounds like Jack Johnson strumming “Sexual Healing”
for his Delta Delta Dickhead buds, it’s almost impossible to choose
between ways of being embarrassed for humanity. The year is young;
let’s hope these remain its longest four minutes. 
While Asher Roth’s single may prove to some nothing of his abilities, if you go download his free mixtape you can really feel a solid vibe in his music. The mixtape is 1000X times better than this song. Give him a chance, and hey, he even recognizes that he sounds a little like eminem and jokes about it.In my opinion he’s a chill less strung out on coke version of eminem, not as angry which leads to a better rhythm and flow in his songs.
I would have a bigger problem with Roth ripping of Eminem except for the fact that Eminem doesn’t rap that way anymore. He’s all tied up in popping bottles and other bullshit. So if this guy wants to come along and give me a style I like (Eminem before rehab) then good for him. As soon Em comes back and starts producing quality rhymes, I’ll beging to hate Asher Roth. Until that day, I’ll make do with what I got.
Also, thanks for clarifying who Brad Nowell is – I almost had to wikipedia it…
/fixes faucet that is dripping sarcasm.