The hip-hop rumor mill has been spinning extra fast lately with various
conflicting reports that Asher Roth, the Morrisville, Pennsylvania-born and raised Diet Coke version of Eminem, has come out, or will do so during an upcoming appearance on a holiday special on E!News, particularly after he voiced his support of
American Idol contestant Clay Aiken and appeared at a pride parade. Many point out that the idea of him being gay isn't terribly surprising, and that Roth's claims to straightness in his lyrics have always been of a fairly tokenistic, frat-ish sort. Plus, if you check his
Wikipedia page, there's an excerpt of an
interview with Vibe, wherein he explains that he first got into rap when he heard the "Annie" sample in Jay-Z's "
Hard Knock Life", and as far as tokenistic indicators of sexual inclination go, well, showtunes=gay.
But now DJ Vlad, the Executive Vice President of Roth's label, SRC/Universal, has released a statement explaining that Roth is neither gay, nor will he be appearing on E!News. The statement also makes clear that the MC won't be dropped from the label, which many claimed was the case in light of his coming out. All of which is to say that it's still not okay to be a gay mainstream rapper, and until Kanye comes out MCs will just have to remain obediently closeted .