S. Samuel
After making headlines for controversial statements regarding African Americans, Asher Roth has released a statement in which he aimed to clarify the media gossip.
The rap newcomer addressed both his “nappy headed h*es” Twitter remark from last week and a past declaration on why black rappers should spend their money wisely.”
“I am a 23 year-old imperfect human being who’s world is drastically changing around him,” he wrote. “The twitter situation was an immature attempt to poke fun at an infamously moronic joke. In doing so, I unconsciously stooped to the level of its originator, making it just as bad, if not worse. Pathetic. Lesson learned – nothing good can come from repeating hateful words, regardless of your intentions…”
“The latest quote on giving back was in response to a question about rappers and their money posed to me by the interviewer. With the question and entire vibe of the conversation not being present in the article, when my statement came out in print it appeared as if I was taking black rappers to task randomly. Not the case…Lesson learned: talk about what you know. You can call them mistakes, I call them life lessons. It is my duty as a human being to choose my words carefully, for I am a kind soul who puts a lot of stock in the progess of humans.” (Statement)
Roth caught heat last Friday (April 24) after attending a Rutgers University event the night prior when he made an offensive remark, for which he later apologized.
At Rutgers stirring up a ruckus,” Roth wrote unmodified. “Been a day of rest and relaxation, sorry Twitter – hanging out with some nappy headed h*es…Totally just making fun of Don Imus – Sorry Scoot, not trying to be offensive…I’m extremely apologetic to anyone who took offense to my immature, bad joke.” (OnSmash)
He also sparked attention for statements he made in a recent interview.
“When I dropped [the ‘A Milli’ freestyle] I thought, ‘You guys are always going off about how much money you have. Do you realize what’s going on in this world right now,'” Roth said. “All these black rappers – African rappers – talking about how much money they have. ‘Do you realize what’s going on in Africa right now?’ It’s just like, ‘You guys are disgusting. Talking about billions and billions of dollars you have. And spending it frivolously, when you know, the Motherland is suffering beyond belief right now.'” (Canadian Press)
The rapper’s debut album reached No. 5 on Nielsen Soundscan‘s Top 200 this week.
Newcomer Asher Roth’s Asleep in the Bread Aisle debuted at No. 5. Roth’s debut album pushed 62,000 records. (Sales Wrap)
