Asher Roth wants to make it clear that he was not involved in the incident Wednesday that involved the detaining of a man on aDelta flight to Los Angeles.
I spoke to Asher Thursday when he stopped by the Yahoo!Music office to preview his highly anticipated forthcoming debut which is dueout in April.
The fast-rising hip-hop star who taped a performance on Last Call With Carson Daly Wednesdaysaid that some early news reports on the melee incorrectly placed him on theplane and involved in the ruckus.
Asher clarified that he was not on the plane and did notwitness the incident. He stressed that his band's guitarist Chris Llewellyn isthe hero who should be getting the credit for initiating the take down of apassenger who pushed a stewardess to the ground, attempted to open the exitdoor of the plane in flight and claimed to have a bomb.
Chris has since been interviewed by Carson Daly and severalmajor entertainment news outlets. This guy better get a BET Award, a Grammy,American Music Award or Hip Hop Honors.
When Chris heard commotion on the Los Angeles bound Delta flight Wednesday andsaw that the man had knocked down a stewardess and was struggling to open the plane'srear door, he intervened. While the man warned that he had a bomb, the 6-foot 26-year-oldtackled him. With the help of several other passengers, Chris kept the assailantrestrained until the plane landed and authorities boarded and arrested him onsuspicion of making a false bomb threat.
Chris told the LosAngeles Times that he thought the attacker was going to open the door andhe wanted to stop him. "He was struggling hard-core," Chris told the dailynewspaper. "I was holding down his arm. Somebody had a foot on his head.Everyone was holding down a different body part. He was going nuts. I wastelling him to chill because he's not going any place."
Authorities did not find a bomb on the plane. Chris and thosewho helped him have been praised for their heroism by local and federalauthorities.
Chris was traveling from Atlanta to appear with Asher on NBC's Last Call With Carson Daly. In additionto playing with Asher, Chris is half of the production team The Rockstars. TheBerklee College of Music graduates have performed on concert bills with thelikes of Gym Class Heroes, Ne-Yo and Three 6 Mafia. They also perform onAsher's "La Di Da."
Asher recently released his official first official single"I Love College." Asher's massive online buzz caught the attention of anA&R rep for SRC, the label that broke superstar hip-hop acts Akon and theWu-Tang Clan. His clever and witty freestyle rhymes have received props fromJay-Z, Kanye West, Q-Tip. The Pennsylvania-bred MC is being touted as the nextEminem.