CELEBRITY INTERVIEW: JOHN FORTE

John Forte Busy Post-Prison With Album, Book, Blog John Forte David J. Prince, N.Y. Singer-songwriter and producer John Forte was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1997 for his work on the Fugees' multiplatinum album "The Score." But he's now best known for the November 2008 commutation of his prison sentence by President George W. Bush. Forte was released after serving seven and a half years of a 14-year sentence in federal prison for drug trafficking. Since then, Forte has been busy. He's laying down the framework for 24 new songs at a downtown Manhattan's Pulse Music studio and hitting the stage for the first time in eight years in New York with the Roots, Talib Kweli, Chrisette Michele and Pharoahe Monch. In addition to signing a book deal with Simon & Schuster to publish his memoirs, he's blogging for the online news site the Daily Beast and working with In Arms Reach, a nonprofit program committed to promoting a positive environment for children of incarcerated parents and at-risk youth. Billboard: The new tracks have a melancholy, lonely quality. Is that how you felt when you wrote them? John Forte: These songs were written while I was away, but they're not necessarily about being away. The songs are like haiku in that they are concise. There is a tinge of solitude in them but it's a reflective, centered solitude. Not that I'd resigned myself to my fate of 168 months or 14 years in prison. I resigned myself to the present. Billboard: Did you listen to music while in prison? Forte: I ended up listening to (Philadelphia's triple A station) WXPN in the south New Jersey area where I was for at least the last four years of my sentence. I got turned on to so much: Jose Gonzalez, Regina Spektor, Sia, Rachael Yamagata, Cat Power. I actually used those guys as barometers to my songwriting. The beauty of Cat Power is the divine imperfection in her voice. I don't listen to her expecting any perfect notes and pitches, but I believe her, and that's what motivates me. Billboard: In some ways, you seemed to have evolved beyond hip-hop. How does that part of your past fit into your new material? Forte: I take umbrage with the fact that when the press came out after my sentence was commuted, I was referred (to) in every periodical as "rapper John Forte." I'd like to think of myself as a musician who happens to rap. But whether hip-hop becomes more commercial or more thugged-out or more about conspicuous consumption, it will always have that undertone of speaking truth to power, questioning the status quo. That's what always defines hip-hop, always has and always will. Billboard: You were released in December, and you're already busy. How did you make such a swift transition? Forte: I have great people in my life. It's through the competence, the compassion and the love of the people around me that has made this transition as seamless as it appears. It's not lost on me -- the blessings and the opportunities that have been put before me. Billboard: Did people keep in touch with you during your time in prison? Forte: When the really hard days hit and I felt despondent, dejected and the social pariah that a federal number sets you up to be, I'd go to mail call and get one letter from a fan. I was at my nadir, and then out of the blue -- of course it's never out of the blue, everything happens for a reason -- I would hear from a fan or somebody who appreciated what I put out there. It was reaffirming that the music had its own course. Billboard: Why did George Bush decide to grant you a commutation? Forte: I don't think I'm qualified to answer that. I know that we went through the process like everyone else. I had a lot of support, but it was my last ray of hope. I went through my appeals process. It was a tiny sliver that opened up to me being here now.

Find this article at: http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/-1003968845.story

MUSIC ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

My homey from the other side of the tracks, Mr. Asher Roth, has dropped his debut studio album, Asleep in the Bread Aisle. I have it, of course, & let me just say that dude is dope. Yeah, he’s a white rapper. Yeah, he sounds a bit like Eminem, also a white rapper. But that’s basically where the similarities stop. Asher Roth’s flow is unorthodox, humorous, refreshing, & the message is quite admirable. Oh, & by the way, I love the title & the album cover. Crazy, no doubt. I put him in the same lane as creative cats like his ace Charles Hamilton, Kid Cudi, Mickey Fatcs, The Cool Kids, Kanye West, Gnarls Barkley, & a few others. That also happens to be my lane as well. Go figure. I have some interviews of him that I’ll be posting in the coming days, so be on the lookout, & whet your appetite with this article

By DAN AQUILANTE

Asher Roth was a hit at the Blender Theater -- in the crowd and onstage

WHAT if Opie busted out of Mayberry and became a rap star? You'd probably get an MC who looks a lot like Asher Roth, rap's latest phenomenon.

The 23-year-old made his NYC debut at the Blender Theater Tuesday, delivering a set that was eventful, energetic and entertaining.

The eventful part wasn't when Cee-Lo Green (the voice of Gnarls Barkley) joined him onstage to trade rhymes, but rather when the young white rapper was in the audience watching opening act Chester French.

Roth, who honed his hick-hop in rural Pennsylvania, got a taste of the street when he was sucker-punched by a guy who was subsequently dragged out of the theater by security.

Obviously, skinny Roth is tougher than he looks. Taking the stage -- on time! -- he joked with the sold-out crowd about the fight: "You know you made it when someone pays 30 bucks to smack you in the face."

The smack-barometer is telling, but Roth already has a pretty good idea he's "made it," considering that as of yesterday his

party-rap single "I Love College" had logged 36,128,311 MySpace plays and another 6 million views on YouTube.

Performed at the end of the show, the song struck a chord with hedonists -- young and old -- in the house when, with frat-boy charm, Roth rapped the lyrics, "Drink my beer and smoke my weed, but my good friends is all I need. Pass out at 3, wake up at 10, go out to eat and do it again, man, I love college, I love drinking, I love women and I love college."

Yeah, who wouldn't?

But this show, with Roth a blur of arm-waving and goofy dance moves, wasn't about that one tune. The hourlong set had a number of highlights including the marijuana motoring ode "Blunt Cruisin,' " and the very excellent "Lion's Roar" that featured vocalist Noah King on the sung verse. Cee-Lo's assistance on "Be My Self" was not only a good tune, the pairing was also an endorsement of Roth's skills.

Released this week, Roth's album is going to be one of this summer's most-listened-to records. It's titled "Asleep in the Bread Aisle," but make no mistake: He isn't bland white bread.