MC HAMMER DISPELS DEATH RUMORS: 'FAR FROM DEAD, I'M POPPING MY COLLAR, MAN!' --PROMOTES HIS NEWEST GIG.

When I came home a couple of hours ago to check today's top celeb news stories, I almost had a coronary episode after reading an article claiming MC Hammer (real name, Stanley Burrell) had been struck and killed in a hit-and-run accident earlier today. I said to myself, 'This is so sad. Hammer was a true pioneer as well as an iconic innovator in the world of rap music.' Coincidentally, yesterday a couple of members on The Crusade, myself included, were discussing the issue of Hammer being honored and inducted into VH1's Hip Hop Honors; and how he deserved to be acknowledged before recently inducted artists such as Missy and Snoop Dog. That's real talk.

Anyway, I should've known something was amiss when one article stated the rapper had 'passed away today in a Baltimore hospital room outside a Tribe Called Quest show in New Jersey last night, the singer was struck by a car passing by the front of the Ventura Theatre. Hammer was rushed to St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore, where he was pronounced dead this morning at 6am.'

I don't think I need to elaborate any further.

Long story short, Stanley Burrell, the rapper, isn't dead. As a matter of fact, another man who shares the same birth name as Hammer, recently passed away. Hammer posted a statement on his official blog to address the rumors. He said: "Far from dead. I'm popin' my collar man!! smile have fun....enjoy life and Dance baby!!!...I heard the rumor..paused, gathered my thoughts and thanked my Lord and Savior that his word and promises are true. I have not completed my mission and I have yet to take my place in a light and place that you can clearly see (know) and understand me.... I take this moment to declare that the God that gave me life, has not required that breath to return unto him... That same breath has his eternal Holy spirit in it. There is none that walks the earth or has fallen from heaven that has the authority to require my life. I am his. The CHRIST...GLORY TO HIS NAME!!!!! I also claim healing and deliverance in his name (Jesus)."

Hammer's reps told tmz.com that he is in the process of resurrecting his career and promoting his newest gig by creating a new website called Dance/Jam where folks can upload videos of themselves dancing. Hammer will critique the submitted dance routines and then rate them. WHAT THE HELL FOR?! I love Hammer like an alcoholic loves gin and juice without the juice, but the purpose of his new gig has completely flown over my head.

Hammer is famous for late 80s and early 90s hits such as Let's Get It Started, Turn This Mutha Out, U Can't Touch This and Too Legit. Hammer's 2nd album, Please, Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em, was the first hip-hop album to reach diamond status, selling more than 10 million units. But with the highs came the lows. The extreme lows. Because of dwindling album sales and a lavish lifestyle, Hammer, who was $13 million in debt, filed for bankruptcy on April 3, 1996. During a guest appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1997, he openly admitted to squandering away nearly $20 million of the $33 million he amassed throughout his career.

Where's Hammer now? The hell if I know.