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LASplash.com: Los Angeles Events Pre BET Awards Party Honoring Lil Wayne and Usher By David Bordow On paper this event sounded too good to be true. Polow Da Don hosting a party to honor Lil Wayne and Usher with special guests including Chris Brown, Swizz Beats, John Legend, Nas, Bun B, Will I Am, David Banner, Xzibit, Keri Hilson, Kim Kardashian, and Jill Scott, among others? Could be a talent overload. Unfortunately, they didn’t all show. Regardless, Hollywood’s GOA was ready and the guests who did finally show up enjoyed themselves as top shelf liquors poured freely from every table and bar and new and old hits blasted.
Rappers, crooners and starlets began showing up at around eleven and posed for snapshots on the red carpet before strolling into GOA’s back entrance.
Jo De La Rosa from Bravo’s, The Real Housewives of Orange County and new production Date My Ex, was one of the first to arrive. She said she is getting ready to release her first album, Unscripted on August 19 and was most excited to hang with Usher.
Polow arrived a little later and shared his thoughts on the most important issues in the upcoming presidential elections. He said that he wanted a leader who could help rebuild the way Americans think racially and financially, and redefine perceptions of wealth and race. He added that the older you get the less you can do so its important to work to make these changes sooner rather than later. Polow has been in the industry for a while and has produced for some of the top names in the business including Jamie Foxx, Ciara, Keri Hilson, Kelly Rowland, Pussycat Dolls, Fergie and Ludacris. He also launched Rich Boy’s career and recently reinvigorated Usher’s by producing and controversially leaking the hit, Love In This Club.
Polow said he has a lot in the works including collaborations with Timbaland on new Keri Hilson tracks, work with the Pussycat Dolls, and new Whitney Houston tracks. He added that he’s most excited about his current work with The New Kids On The Block.
Producing legend Swizz Beats told me he’s very excited for the release of his new album, Life After The Party, which he says has got “everyone” on it. After hearing what he did with Lil Wayne in Dr. Carter off The Carter III, and with the success of Swizz’s latest single, Where The Cash At, I look forward to hearing the rest of the tracks.
The beautiful Keri Hilson arrived followed by Reggie Bush and Kim Kardashian. The rest of the attendees, including Usher, John Legend and Will I Am trickled in after midnight. It was hard to ignore the absence of the party’s other honoree, Lil Wayne.
I spent some time in the DJ booth, which is actually more like a huge VIP section upstairs with beds and couches extending out over the dance floor. Polow got on the mike at around half passed midnight and dedicated the next half an hour to all the ladies in the house. He brought it back to basics with a mix of oldies including Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On and Sexual Healing, Zapp and Roger’s Computer Love, Lenny William’s Cause I Love You, Rose Royce’s I’m Going Down, Al Green’s Love and Happiness, and a few Michael Jackson classics. When all the women in the crowd were thoroughly wooed, Polow switched it up and threw on Cash Money’s, Project Bitch in honor of Mannie Fresh who hopped into the booth next.
The rest of the night was filled with mostly new releases and shout outs to special guests. When it finally came time to honor Usher, he had already made a discrete escape but Polow threw on Love In This Club anyways and the dance floor went wild. Although Lil Wayne never showed up, I heard Lollipop at least once among a handful of other Wayne originals and remixes off The Drought 3 and other mix tapes. All in all it was an interesting night and a great way to get down and let off some steam before the next day’s BET Awards. To read more about Polow and to listen to some of his work visit his MySpace Page. For information about GOA please visit them here. To hear Swizz's new single and to learn more about his upcoming album, visit his MySpace Page. Photographs: Liam Spurgeon. Published Jun 23, 2008 © Copyright 2003-2004 by LA Splash.com |
