When Asher Roth was introduced as one of MTV News' MCs to Watch in 2009, he wasn't too keen on radio play. He said he wasn't just some kid from the suburbs who jumped into whatever was popular. In fact, he seemed to disapprove of what was being played on the radio.

"I don't think that's where the good stuff is," Roth said.

He got his music from people and Web sites he trusted, and used his MySpace and Facebook pages, along with his blog, The Daily Kush, to reach an audience.

The top song on his MySpace player was "I Love College." The song has a sing-song hook that professes Roth's, well, love of college. He said the record was bigger than just college, however — it was about uniting people and celebrating life. The song became his first single and ultimately his first song on the radio. Two months later, he changed his tune about what gets played on the radio.

"It's hard-pressed to find a music fan — someone who really, genuinely loves music — that doesn't get sick of the same rotation of top-40 music that gets played on the radio," Asher said, smiling. "But whenever your song gets to sneak in there, that's a beautiful thing."

Roth said he gets texts every day saying, "Yo Asher, your song is on the radio." He confessed that the experience was cool, but was quick to point out that it had been a group effort and that it meant a lot to other people as well — including his family and friends.

But radio play is just a checkpoint in Roth's career. "We got on the radio, and now let's keep it moving forward. But it's definitely one of the few senses of accomplishing something," the rapper said.

And the next step forward is the music video for his first single. Asher Roth's video for "I Love College" premiered February 9 on MTV. Directed by Jonathan Lia and shot in Los Angeles, the video features Roth at a party packed up with beer pong, strip poker and other frat-house staples. Roth said that the 11-hour shoot was a chance to have some fun again.

"I was just sitting on a couch talking about how much I missed college and the song wrote itself. Same thing with the video."

Roth said he felt good about how everything had gone so far. He said it's all been natural and organic, and the album's title, Asleep in the Bread Aisle, was no different. He chose the name when he and a friend, painter Alec Egan, were exchanging stories of being drunk.

Egan told him about a friend of his that fell asleep in the bread aisle of a supermarket after he took nighttime medication by mistake. "Asleep in the Bread Aisle is pretty funny for a drunk story, but also in a sense, like, dream big, dream of success and enjoy yourself — and that's really the vibe of the record."

He said his goal with the album was to put out music, not just verses with a hook. He was influenced by classic rock and jazz, and he wanted to infuse those influences in his sound. He also didn't want to clutter it with overproduction and guest appearances. The album thus far features Cee-Lo Green, DA Wallach of Chester French and only a handful of producers.

"This is my coming-out party, so I wanted to focus it around what we really want to do."