Speaking of a joyous future . . . I noticed that white college funboy Asher Roth has been topping the Hype Machine charts lately.  Shame on everyone!  Not only is his song, “I Love College” ubiquitous on MTV, but it’s annoying and stupid.  The Beastie Boys already did this, twenty five years ago, did it better, with better production, and much better musical chops.  When I first heard Roth, it was on his DJ Cannon mixtape, where he rhymed about fucking cartoon chicks.  One cut on the whole tape was good, called “The Lounge,” but the rest of it was an obvious attempt by corporate America to sell a product that looked somewhat like hip hop.  But if Asher Roth is hip hop, then Chris Brown is R and B.  And I have nothing against popular rap–I was a big fan of Nelly’s first record.  But this puts the rap in Crap.

And anyway, since when are blogs supposed to be the source of free copies of top 40 songs?

The Lounge-Asher Roth (YSI)

Instead of using Hype’s top 40, why not go to these great pages and learn about something new or get reacquainted with someting even cooler than you ever thought it was . . .

• Like All Things Go which, speaking of pop rap, offers a cover of Nelly’s Ride Wit’ Me!
• Or Fong Songs, who has a feature on a new band on Jack “The White Striped Raconteur’s” label.  He’s offering the great 7 Nation Army cover by Nostalgia 77 and a few Racs tunes.  I see that offer, Mr. Fong, and raise you one Get Rythm (Johnny Cash cover)-The White Stripes (YSI)
• Or Indie Muse, who reminds us of the greatness that was XTC.
• Or, if hip hop is your thing, ignore Asher and check out Moka (who has been great for years) as he provides a mix including MF DOOM (he didn’t write it in all caps though!) and J. Dilla.
• Or for more hip hop, Passion of the Weiss (probably my favorite hip hop blog) pans Joe Budden’s new record.  Shame.  Joey B used to be one of the best, but his last efforts have had a lot of whining on them.  I’ll still have to go get the album for myself.

See?  There’s so much great stuff out there!  Don’t choke on the popular, embrace the new!