Loud Vice President Addresses Explosive Rumors, "Asher Roth Is Not Gay"

Loud Executive Vice President DJ Vlad has addressed rumors which suggest rap newcomer Asher Roth has decided to come out and admit to being a homosexual.

According to Vlad, the rumors are merely gossip and hold no truth.

"As Executive Vice President of Loud.com / SRC Records, I would like to address the recent internet rumors about Asher Roth: Asher Roth is not gay, and is not scheduled to be interviewed on the E! Channel. Furthermore, Asher has not been dropped from SRC Records, and is a top priority at the label after having sold over a million copies of his 'I Love College' single. Asher is currently working on his next album for SRC. DJ Vlad Executive Vice President Loud.com / SRC / Universal CEO, VladTV"

Speculation began to grow over Roth's sexual preference last weekend.

At first, this appeared to be a rumor but I called Terrance Dean, the author of "Hiding in Hip-Hop" and he confirmed that Asher is indeed mentioned in his book. I then went to his blog and saw that he posted this last week: 'Asher Roth admits he is the infamous "Gay Rapper" in a new book put out by Terrance Dean, formerly of MTV. Dean who at first said he wouldn't say names, is now not agreeing or disputing that Asher is indeed the "Gay Rapper."

Rumors used Roth's support of gay rights as a hint of his lifestyle.

Asher was recently at a Gay Rights Parade with Lady Gaga, "American Idol" winner, Clay Aiken, Blink 182, and REM lead man Michael Stipe. Besides Terrance Dean posting the news on his own blog, TMZ.com, and E! News all put out newsletters stating the good news about Asher Roth. Asher is currently living in a "gay section" of New York and "loving life".

The rapper has received props from rappers earlier this year including Eminem.

"Asher Roth, I haven't had a chance to, like, really get into everything, like, really get into what he's about, because I've only heard a couple songs," Em said in the new issue of XXL Magazine. "There was talk about people saying he sounded like me, and he was doing this and that and, you know, trying to take what I do and do it. You know, sh*t like that. I've heard things. But the stuff that I've heard from him honestly, which certainly isn't enough for me to make my own opinion and say, 'Yeah, he does sound like me' or 'No, he doesn't.' But the couple of songs I've head, I don't really think he does. You know what I mean? He's doing his own thing. I can respect it, too, because at the end of the day, I think he's dope."

Check out an Asher Roth interview below:

Beanie Sigel Reportedly In Near-Fatal Car Accident, Health Status Unknown

State Property's Beanie Sigel was reportedly involved in a near-fatal car accident last night (December 19).

Details on the incident are still developing as of now.

Philadelphia rapper Beanie Sigel was injured in a car accident last night, reps say. Representatives for Sigel maintain a large tractor trailer truck ran his vehicle off the road. Sigel was not the driver of the car and sustained injuries. The full breadth of those injuries is unknown, as is the exact location of the accident.

Beanie has kept busy as of late by making an alliance with 50 Cent and calling out his former Roc-A-Fella associates like Jay-Z and Memphis Bleek.

"A lot of Jay-Z fans are my fans too," Beans explained in an interview. "At the end of the days, [Memphis] Bleek's fake too. F*ck outta here. I ain't trying to hear that. Bleek got the same characteristics, man...Lil Wayne professed the 'Greatest Rapper Alive' [title] and was getting the momentum. Lil Wayne can rap, Lil Wayne can spit, in my point of view. I like Lil Wayne, he should have kept moving with it and then Jay come and tell Lil Wayne he gonna pass the paton to him [then] Lil Wayne falls back."

Bleek later responded to these comments from Sigel.

"That's my n*gga," Bleek said in an interview. "I don't feel no ways [different] as I felt from when he signed to us back in '99. I feel the same way today. That's my n*gga. And that's it. He can say what he wanna say. Him and I know the truth. He know what's real, and that's just it. It's all rap sh*t. Some people do things that you can look at and be like, 'Yo, why?,' but at the end of the day you just have to be in they mind frame and figure out - Try to understand what they thinking at that point in time. But like I say, he never stole from me, he never did nothing physically to me, none of my peoples, none of my family. That's still my brother...I just seen him at the Powerhouse show. Like two days before all of that sh*t popped off, we just had a ill conversation at Powerhouse. It was me, him, all his n*ggas there, my n*ggas, we was kickin' it, choppin' it up and nothing ever was said..."

The beef has also caught the attention of Def Jam's Fabolous.

"Nah, not really [I would not do a diss] because that's not my beef. I don't have a problem with Beanie, actually, you know what I'm saying, I'm cool with Beanie too. The same circle Jay was, Beanie was there too. So we all had, [well], I'm not as close, close to Beanie as I am with Jay, but I wouldn't. That's not my beef. Their thing is a little more personal, I mean. Everybody knows Jay and Beans, at one point, were hand and hand. Like, that's not my beef, I wouldn't even jump in there."

Check out Fabolous speaking on Jay-Z/Beanie Sigel below:

Song Of Da Day

C-Ride - Money Round Here (ft. T-Pain)

R.I.P. Brittany Murphy Dies

Brittany Murphy died early this morning after she went into full cardiac arrest and could not be revived, multiple sources tell TMZ.

She was 32.

A 911 call was made at 8:00 AM from a home in Los Angeles that is listed as belonging to her husband, Simon Monjack, the Los Angeles City Fire Department tells TMZ.

We're told Murphy was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center where she was pronounced dead on arrival.

Murphy starred in such films as "Clueless," "8 Mile," and "Don't Say a Word."

Story developing ...

R.I.P.

Hurricane Chris Unfazed By Sophomore Jinx Theory, "I Ain't No Nerd With This Rap"

With the upcoming release of Hurricane Chris' Unleashed, SOHH asked the rapper if he was worried about competing with the "sophomore jinx" theory.

For Chris, his confidence in rap has left him unfazed with trying to out-do 2007's 51/50 Ratchet.

"Nah, we ain't tripping off of none of that man," Chris told SOHH. "We all hood with this, I go hard and harder every time I drop. I be freestyling and I be writing, I'm a fool with this. I ain't no nerd with this rap. I go hard. [laughs] You know what I'm saying?"

The rapper recently explained calling himself one of the best rappers in hip-hop.

"Hand for hand, foot for foot, when it comes to rapping, you put somebody in my face and whatever category you give us, whatever you tell us to flow about, you tell us to talk about each other, I'm gonna destroy 'em," Chris promised SOHH. "I'll destroy whoever you put in front of me. Your talent shines until it gets in the presence of mine. Understand that? You see a star in the sky and it looks real bright until you go out the next day and there's a bigger star next to that star -- D-Bo, D-Bo, D-Bo. I'm the D-Bo of the rap game. I'm the D-Bo of it, watch what I tell you."

From Chris' perspective, his freestyle skills place him ahead of the competition.

"I'm the best rapper alive, put a mic in front of me and you gon' see what's up!," he explained in an interview. "You know they duckin' me they dodging me; I'm that new kid on the block they're scared of, that they know is gettin' all the girls! But they be like 'oh him?' (laughs). But you know it's hurting your feelings every time I get on the freestyle and wreck it till they can't even listen to an instrumental no more. We got a lot of cats who say they freestyling, and you turn on the radio and you hear the same thing that they said they was freestyling a minute ago, you hear that wrote down, you know? A lot of these clowns is just what I said: clowns."

The project will feature production from hitmakers including DJ Toomp and Mannie Fresh.

Former "A Bay Bay" rapper Hurricane Chris is readying the release of his sophomore album. Led by the recently released single "She's Fine," featuring Superstarr, Chris' forthcoming effort is titled Unleashed. DJ Toomp, Mannie Fresh and Justice League are among those who are linked to Unleashed.

Unleashed drops Monday, December 21st.

Check out a recent Hurricane Chris performance below:

Obie Trice "Special Reserve 2" Possible, "We Have More Material"

With the recent release of Obie Trice and producer MoSS's Special Reserve album, SOHH hit up the man behind the beats to find out if a follow-up could be in place.

According to MoSS, there is still more unreleased material, however, an urge to put out a Special Reserve 2 is not yet there.

"I mean, we have more material but I'm not sure," MoSS told SOHH. "The bonus track, we had put it out in the 90's and so the people that picked up on our music back then, we were able to show them a different side of that song. I saw it on YouTube a few times with people making a video with the original -- but this was a way for us to give them something, for the people that were checking for us back then. We have more material but I don't see that material ever coming out in the future, in my opinion. Things could change, but I don't see it. [Special Reserve 2] is something me and Obie would have to talk about and obviously he would have to see how things go with his records. I guess I can say as an artist, it won't not happen, but I can't say it's gonna happen"

Obie recently spoke with SOHH about working on the project with MoSS.

"MoSS is doing his music thing, he's in Toronto and I'm in Detroit," Obie told SOHH about their distance apart. "And we never really, really, really talked about it. He had the idea to put [the unreleased tracks] out there and I thought it was good idea -- and being the type of person that I am with my music, I'm real passionate about my music. I ain't the mixtape dude, I ain't the Internet dude. He felt like he wanted to do this, he was the producer and he's a great producer so I'm all for it."

Trice also told SOHH the disc was composed of pre-Shady Records material.

"Me and my man [MoSS] from Toronto, h*ll of a producer, we're putting the music out there that we did back in the day and just putting it out there, it's some old-school, new-school hip-hop sh*t," Obie told SOHH. "When Bottom's Up comes out, then we'll talk about that Shady sh*t. This is some of the music that signed me to Eminem's label."

The album consists of 11 songs which includes one bonus record.

Special Reserve: Welcome. Got Hungry. You've Been Slain. On & On. I Am. 4 Stories. Roughnecks featuring Deuce Wonder. Cool Cat. What You Want. Jack My D*ck. Dope, Jobs, Homeless.

Check out MoSS speaking on the album below:

Game Imagines 2 Pac & Biggie Smalls Still Alive, "Nobody Would Be Running Around Talking They The King Of New York"

West Coast rapper Game has reflected on the contributions late artists Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. would have had in the world if they were still alive today.

Writing via Twitter, Game said his rap career may have not happened if Pac was still around.

"#if2PACwasALIVE I probably wouldn't be who I am today. his un-timely death is what motivated me to wanna put this sh*t on my back !!!," he wrote. "& #ifBIGwasALIVE nobody would be runnin round talkin bout they the KING OF NEW YORK !!! he was hands down that n*gga !!! #ifBIGwasALIVE Tianna & lil CJ would have a father this X-mas ! #if2PACwasALIVE Will Smith wouldn't have a wife, cuz Jada was Pac's gyrl..... #realtalk #if2PACwasALIVE he would be 37 years old. #if2PACwasALIVE him & Denzel would be fightin for movie roles.... cuz he was on his way to a OSCAR !!! #if2PACwasALIVE you could hit him @2PAC & he would hit you back just like I do .......... #realtalk #if2PACwasALIVE B.I.G. would still be alive !!! #nuffsaid."

Southern rapper David Banner previously hit SOHH about seeing Tupac alive.

"I think if Pac was here, hip-hop would have more of a voice in what's going on in this election," said Mississippi rapper, David Banner. "I think Tupac would be one of the people that could rally young people together. He's one of the few artists that would've been able to take his fame and actually be able to focus that to somewhere positive."

Consequence also weighed in on his thoughts of Pac still rapping today.

"Tupac was definitely one of the more vocal artists when it came to matters that matter," said the G.O.O.D. Music rapper. "I definitely think he would have urged the younger generation to let their voice be heard by voting."

Lupe Fiasco told SOHH that Pac would have to reflect on having a black president.

"I think he would have to bite his words. [He said,] 'Although it seems heaven sent/ we aint ready to see a black president'. I think now he would be like, 'I think we are,'" said Lupe. "I think he would remix that record and change the lyrics a little bit."