After liberating the title track last month, Asher Roth returns with our next taste of his forthcoming Flowers On The Weekend. Once again produced by Rob Deckhart, “Hunnid” features Joyce Wrice on the smooth, soulful and eerily enchanting hook.

“Hunnid” is a timely and thought-provoking examination of capitalism, presented in wondrous prose that comes courtesy of Asher Paul. Over the course of the record, Roth paints vivid pictures of the plagues and toxic cycles that emerge as a result of a money-driven society. Listeners get a raw and honest look at the various – and unfortunately “necessary” – ways a need for money fuels vices, controls lives and limits our abilities to live freely. Whether you’re selling bud, running a business or cooking up raps, there’s an underlying need to earn a living. As Roth points out so elegantly, we’re not even earning a “living” – we’re just doing it all in order to survive. Roth takes aim at the hypocrisy-laden systems at play in America, from student loans and consumer culture to health insurance and 40+ hour work weeks that still don’t cover the costs of survival.

The mindful analysis was certainly crafted prior to the current pause in “normalcy” but it’s timing could not be any more appropriate. As we watch the world slow down for the first time in history, and as all the illusions that were not long ago viewed as necessary are placed in the spotlight, we’re being gifted an immeasurable opportunity to turn away from the fiery shadows and step out of the cave we’ve been chained inside of. When things begin to pick up again, “Hunnid” serves as a powerful reminder to keep in mind what is actually important and what has been used as a means to control our ability to live freely. Our “need” to make money simply to eat and survive has left us running on a hamster wheel, losing our true selves to the shackles of work and monetary gain.

Joyce Wrice adds the bow on top of Roth’s delivery with the chilling contemplation that we don’t need money to have a good time. We can live, love, laugh and have fun without money. At the end of the day, money is only here because – with the way the world is designed – we need it to live. With stores, restaurants, bars and the like shut down, what are you doing to keep engaged with your friends? What are you doing to stay positive and laugh? And how much of it is costing you any money?

Before we close this out, let’s be up front – money isn’t inherently evil. But a lack of it is. And that’s only because the “need” for money has created such a shift in what’s important and what is necessary for survival. I’m only able to fulfill my passion for writing in the way I currently am because I had the money to buy this laptop, stream Asher’s music, etc., etc. Money, in and of itself, is not the problem. The problem rests in the fact that there are people who can’t afford to eat, people who can’t afford to get medical treatment…that’s the problem with money.

“Hunnid” is available now on all your favorite streaming platforms. Flowers On The Weekend drops April 23rd and you can pre-save/pre-order here.

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