Jeremih's Album Release Party - June 30, 2009

Tuesday night, Def Jam's Jeremih held his album release party at Providence in NYC. Doors opened at 7pm but the show started after 9pm. I should have realized that was a sign. I saw the ladies of Electrik Red in the media room. They looked cute posing for pictures and stopping for interviews. The lead singer, Naomi Allen, was nice. I saw a few others posing for pictures in front of the back drop, no clue who they were.

The show opened with a band that was pretty good followed by the "special guest" performers. There was a long intermission in between each performer, which added to my frustration. Electrik Red performed a few songs. They did a pretty good job given the stage was the size of someone's garage. I'll admit I don't know any of their songs and didn't love any I heard that night but they seemed nice. Best of luck to them.

Two independent artists, Sean Flight and Peter Hadar, performed.
Sean

Peter

Sean was drowned out by his drummer so I barely hear anything dude sang and I was standing right above him on the balcony. From where I was standing, Peter reminded me of Anthony Hamilton back in 2000 but Peter can't kill a song like Anthony. Peter's music was cool. His drummer and pianist over powered his vocals but from the little I heard his lyrics needed some serious work. My fave line was "Baby don't step on my shoes, they cost $300". And this was part of a song he prefaced with: this is a song for my fellas that see a girl they like and wanna talk to her and impress her. Really Peter? That's what you would say? Good luck with that! The group Black Violin performed.

They have skillz on the violin but one of the member's instrument had technical difficulties. I think I went from tried and confused to sleepy and annoyed after I cringed from the mic feedback.

While all this anticlimactic activity is taking place, Def Jam’s guest (family, friends and exec) ate dinner and drank champagne. I wondered if I was the only one that was confused and jaded. I wasn’t. Two-thirds of the balcony section left after Electrik Red performed (they were second), the guests looked bored from my view and when Mr. Hader went said “I wanna sing acapella so y’all can hear my voice” I swear the table conversations got louder. All the while I’m thinking where is Jeremih??? I had that “Birthday Sex” song in my head for about a week! 11pm rolls around and frustration changed to pure anger, which is never good. I looked down at the stage and saw a new band setting up. I ASSUMED (like a dummy) Jeremih was going to be next. The host came to the stage at 11:20pm and said they was going to start their Michael Jackson tribute. WHAT???? So needless to say, after a few choice words I left the balcony and went back into the media room to get my stuff and head home. I looked around and notice people were packing up!!! Back drop was going down, couches were being moved and I’m thinking how they cleaning up and this dude STILL ain’t on stage??? I don’t know. Yesterday, I was livid. Today, I’m thinking maybe it’s me! Maybe it’s best I didn’t see him perform. At that point, I might have gone off the deep end. Who knows!

Thursday, June 25, 2009 - NBA Draft Party

There were a ton of parties Thursday night in NYC to celebrate the NBA draft. First stop: 40/40 club. I arrived at 11:30ish and expected to see a massive line. To my surprise, there were more bouncers outside than guests and you actually needed to know your confirmation number to get it. Glad I didn’t delete the confirmation email. Minutes later, I walked in and realized it was very close to standing room only downstairs. It was packed and the draft wasn’t even over yet! I heard the DJ give a shout out to Diddy but I didn’t see him and can’t confirm he was there. While trying to walk around the lower level, I locked eyes with one of the Flavor of Love girls. I remembered the face but couldn’t remember her name for anything! I googled it and it was Smiley aka Leilene Ondrade. Very pretty girl but back to my recap. Upstairs a mass of party goers huddled together attempting to make their way to the VIP rooms. After about 30 minutes, the massive sandwich moved about 3 steps forward. I’d had enough at that point and it was time to move on.

Next stop: M2 Ultra Lounge. The bouncers were quite selective and it was obvious you needed a “hook up” to get in (thanks Joy!) but once I was in, it all made sense. The place was crammed with celebs, athletes, and reality TV folks. M2 is a huge venue. It was packed but definitely better than 40/40. VIP was a zoo but who doesn’t want to get in, walk around and see who else is in there???? Thanks Joy and Ebony for the VIP hook up! Unfortunately, I didn’t see and probably didn’t recognize all the celeb or the reality TV folks at M2 but here’s my list: Kevin Hart (comedian), Brooke & Christian (BET’s Harlem Heights), Jordan Hill (Knicks draft pick), Jadakiss (rapper), Pepa (rapper/author), Rockwilder (producer), Trey Songz (singer), Meagan Good (actress) and T-Weed (VH1’s I Love NY season 1 and I Love Money season 2). DJ Clue, DJ Mr. Cee and DJ S&S keep the party going and weaved in lots of Michael Jackson classics. All in all it was a great night. I was dead at work the next day but it was worth it!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009 – Socially Superlative 1st Anniversary Event

In celebration of its 1st anniversary, Socially Superlative, in conjunction with City Harvest, held an event at Inc Lounge (2nd floor of the Time Hotel) in NYC. Socially Superlative is an online journal that covers events, opening, launches, shopping events, cultural events and basically anything else hot taking place in New York City. Ivy Bakery (http://www.ivybakery.com) provided complimentary cupcakes (Yum!) and guest who donated to City Harvest, were given gift bags filled with treats from the hottest Manhattan spas and boutiques. It’s always nice when you attend an event and leave with gifts! Inc Lounge is a chic and cozy venue, which was perfect for this event. There were lots of photographers, event planners, socialites, bloggers, media, overall a nice crowd. Congrats Socially Superlative!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009 – NBA “Pre” Draft Party

Tuesday night’s draft party was held at Amalia restaurant and lounge in NYC. Unlike the “pre” NFL draft party held at M2 in NYC, this event was very organized. No long lines (well not when I got there), no pushing, no yelling, no 3 hour wait to figure out that there’s 28 lines and a crowd swarming the front and no one is getting in until after 1:00am although you killed yourself to get there by 10pm. Kudos to the event planners! Amalia is an elegant venue with silk wallpaper, glass chandeliers, backlit mosaic tiled stairs, and distressed brick walls. Dim the lights, break out the candles, turn up the music and it’s my kinda place!!!

This event was definitely a buffet for the men. By 11:30pm there was a nice crowd…..but mostly females. By 12:30am there was an even better crowd and the music was good, but again mostly females. Nothing wrong with the ladies, but something’s just not right when you’re at a nice event and the ratio of women to men is approximately 12:1. I know the “NBA” aspect brings the female crowd but don’t guys know they need to come too?? The ladies buy an outfit, get their hair done and go through all the prep work for the event. They all won’t snag an athlete! There should be a strong crew of guys plotting on those who just came to party, those who don’t make the cut, and those who aren’t bold enough to sneak into VIP. I’m not implying anything, just emphasizing the need for an equal playing field. Overall, it was a decent party. The real draft party is on Thursday. No, I won’t slip and say where so everyone can blame me when the door looks like feeding time at the zoo. But if the music is great, the drinks are flowing and the crowd looks good like on Tuesday night (just with a tad bit more males) then it might be worth going to work with little to no sleep and struggling to keep the bags of sand, I mean eyelids, open! Stay tuned….. If I actually make it there, I’ll fill you in on the details.