Rapper Asher Roth has opened up about his time in the music industry and his connection to Justin Bieber as he shared his concerns for the pop star

A former friend of Justin Bieber’s has claimed there’s ‘no turning back’ for the singer(Image: Getty Images for The Recording Academy)

Justin Bieber’s former friend has opened up about the “dark side” of being famous and why he feels “sad” for the singer amid his cryptic social media posts.

Asher Roth, known for his smash hit I Love College, opened up to Daily Star about his worries for the Canadian pop star – who appeared to tease fans about his new music recently.

Roth, who was also under the wing of talent manager Scooter Braun when his path crossed with Bieber during their early days in the industry, shared his thoughts on the ruthless nature of the music world and the often tragic fate of rising young talents, claiming “the story only ever ends one way”.

Reflecting on his journey and how it could have mirrored Bieber’s, Roth said: “For me, it was down to keeping that balance with things. If I didn’t have those friends or my family, maybe it would have been different. You see it all the time, name an artist who started really young and let me know how that ended. It’s really sad.”

Asher Roth knew Justin in his younger days when were both managed by Scooter Braun(Image: MTV Vault/Youtube)

He lamented the loss of contact with Bieber, saying, “It’s sad because Justin was in Atlanta with us early on, and I don’t really have contact with him anymore but I wish I did.”

Roth recalled days with Braun and Bieber, noting, “At the time Scooter was just getting started as a music manager, so he moved Justin down to where he was in Atlanta, where I was too. I was old enough to bring some of my friends with me as a buffer and familiarity, but Justin left everything that he was doing in Canada, and came down with his Mom.

“Granted, the idea of success in the entertainment and music business is really alluring. It’s a really sexy thing. So I get why people leave the lives they were living, but there really is no turning back, once you’ve pierced through the fabric of pop culture and become a character, that’s who you are to them for the rest of your life.”

Reflecting further, he added: “For me, piercing through as the I Love College guy, it’s been impossible for me to reintroduce myself as it’s always been about the branding. For Bieber, not to tell his story, but it’s like that with a lot of stars, they become more popular than their music – and so the public becomes extremely interested in who they are dating and their private life.

Asher opened up about the music industry and said he wishes he was still in contact with Justin(Image: Getty Images)

“There’s a dark side to it and people want to know everything all the time, so there is really no hard line between your private life and your personal life anymore.”

Roth has spent years dissecting the music industry and has put in immense effort to find a balance that aligns with his professional goals and personal needs, yet he admits it was “not easy”.

The rapper stated: “It’s really hard. From a financial standpoint, I’ve been funding my own career for 11/12 years now, but it’s like what do you value in life? What do you actually want? And I don’t think there’s any real conversation of that being had with the music business.It’s all or nothing, there is no in between. What’s wrong with selling out a 500-person venue? Why do we have to sell out 50,000 at Wembley? Sometimes the middle road is all right.”

Since his rise to fame, Roth has experienced the ups and downs of Hollywood, taken a step back from the industry, and focused on his independence. He’s now a father, a mentor, and a leader of a growing creative community – balancing vulnerability, purpose, and artistry.

His 450K+ monthly Spotify listeners prove he’s not chasing viral stardom, he’s matured with his audience.

After the cult success of Why’s It So Grey Out? and its sequel Temporary Heaven, Roth is gearing up to release Tripping Vol. 2 – the fifth collaborative project with his online collective.