An Exit Survey For Asher Roth’s ‘Flowers on the Weekend’

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Asher Roth fans waited a long time for his third album but it was worth the suspense. Flowers on the Weekend, his third official LP, dropped on Friday (April 23rd), six years and one day after his last album, RetroHash, hit the streets. Over the years, Ash has made it very clear that fame and fortune aren’t his driving motivators, but that hasn’t stopped FOTW from landing among the Top 10 on iTunes Rap-Hip Hop Albums chart.

Featuring guest verses from Lil Yachty, Buddy, and logii, soulful vocals from Joyce Wrice, CJ Smith, and Gaby Duran, horns from SAXMANART, and exclusive production from Rob Devious, the project is spirited, uplifting and right on time considering the state of the country. After running it through a few times, Slackie Brown staffers went ahead and wrote out their initial reactions to the new project.

Album review for Flowers on the Weekend in 140 characters or less?

Connor Noetzel: You had me at “On the back porch / Adirondack” on the album’s title track and the pedal steel guitar on “Cher in Chernobyl.”

Casey Pazzalia: Well-rounded with something for rappity-rap fans and straight-up music lovers.

Favorite song off the album?

Noetzel: “Back of the Class” is pretty undeniable.

Pazzalia: As a rappity-rap fan first, “Spaceship” and “Cher in Chernobyl” deliver, and yeah, you can’t deny the bounce that “Back of the Class” brings to the table.

Least favorite?

Noetzel: As much as I like “Dark Chocolate,” it feels a little left field.

Pazzalia: Def appreciate the falsetto voice Asher has honed over the last few years, but “Dark Chocolate” has been played the least so far.

What was Asher Roth & producer Rob Devious listening to when making FOTW?

Noetzel: Donnie Trumpet/Chance the Rapper, maybe like some Thundercat/Mac Miller combos. And a touch of Vulfpeck.

Pazzalia: Will gladly defer to Connor here, but the horns from SAXMANART were a major bonus and reminded me of some Chance/Donnie jams. On a broad level, they were listening to one another for sure; Rob did every song on the album and had Ash in his studio (known as ‘The Shed’) every Wednesday for a year-plus.

How will “I Love College” fans react to FOTW?

Noetzel: It’s just a bit more focused and mature — not a totally different Asher, just an older, wiser one.

Pazzalia: Hopefully, they can appreciate the growth. Looking at his full catalog, “I Love College” is the outlier. The jams you hear on FOTW have been coming since his sophomore album and the majority slap.