After the men’s basketball team’s win against South Florida, Asher Roth threw Syracuse University its very own after-party.

The 26-year-old hip-hop and rap music artist performed at the Westcott Theater on Wednesday night. Opening musicians such as SU’s own Guy Harrison and the Backhand Fam helped set the tone.

It was no coincidence that Roth’s ‘Final 4 Tour’ fell in the height of basketball season. Stopping at other college towns such as New York City, Louisville, Ky., and Chapel Hill, N.C., the tour was meant to be a basketball-related experience.

‘I’m a fan of March Madness,’ Roth said after his set. ‘And being a fan of college basketball we knew the time was coming up, and we were like, ‘Yo, let’s just go to all the top programs.’ We started to realize how important it was to just be out there, not necessarily doing these big tours, but just hanging out with the kids.’

With the lights flashing, the bass thumping from the speakers so loud it raised arm hairs, the familiar frat party smell of spilled beer and a smoky haze filled the air. The crowd got into the atmosphere a little too much at times.

Roth, a Morrisville, Pa., native, made it a point to share the spotlight with fans. The crowd ranged from high-school-aged kids to college students. Roth encouraged the smoking of marijuana multiple times. At one point, he gathered two girls and one guy from the audience to act out his ‘Blunt Cruisin” track. The fog thickened.

There were also multiple times throughout his set when he welcomed rowdy concertgoers to the stage. Lifting their lacrosse pinnies up, the girls in the crowd expressed their appreciation for Roth in not-so-appropriate ways.

Opening rap act Guy Harrison said he admired Roth for being an artist that truly keeps it real.

‘He is one of the artists who has tried really hard to maintain that,’ said Harrison, a sophomore advertising major.

Harrison’s co-rapper and sophomore information and technology major Cartier Sims agreed.

‘Right after I get offstage, I’m a fan,’ he said after performing.

Sims and many fans were glad to see Roth in such a positive light among his fans, as Roth had label issues in previous years. He is now signed with Island Def Jam Records.

‘This is really his time to show what he’s got just as Asher,’ Sims said. ‘He doesn’t have to pretend that he’s anything he’s not for his label.’

As a celebrity, Roth appreciates what he has become and the people who have supported him during his rise to fame. After his set, he discussed how Robert Kraft, one of his role models and owner of the New England Patriots, influenced his young career.

‘People asked him why the Patriots have been so successful, and he was like, ‘It’s because I put great people around me, and those great people attract other great people.’ I just think that’s so real,’ he said.

When push comes to shove — in a literal sense, as some small fights broke out at the concert — Roth is still responsible for giving college students a statement to try to live by during their time at SU. After Roth’s set, Harrison echoed the rapper’s ‘I Love College’ sentiment.

Harrison said: ‘We still have class tomorrow, too, at the end of the day.’

ajcaren@syr.edu

Published on February 22, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Allie: ajcaren@syr.edu