FollowTis the New Year. Party seasons over. For another few days! A whole new year of fabulosity has begun. This made me think about all my favourite parties from the past and come up with a list of my personal favourite top ten. Not beacuse of who threw the party, or who attended. More about what made the party ROCK!
ENJOY!
RUSSELL SIMMONS PARTY AT BAROLO.
10
Mariah once took me to a party at Barolo NYC thrown by hip-hop entrepreneurial guru Russell Simmons and we hung at his table all night with fellow music man Andre Harrell and more. It was fun, so much laughter, banter, dancing and a stellar line-up of names that now feels dream-like! The party vibe was pure big ballers and business.
USHER AT JASMINES GEISHAS/GANGSTAS BIRTHDAY PARTY AT 190 QUEENSGATE,LONDON.
9
Usher had so many good parties it’s hard to name just one. But they were all pure fabulosity. He’d perform, chat, hangout and dance with his guests all night till the early hours. The vibe was always very sexy with the ladies all out to catch the eye of the then young R&B star. Special mention goes to the Murder Inc Party thrown by Ja Rule and Irv Gotti at London’s In and Out Club (too much that happened that is not fit for public exposure went down!).
JASMINE. WITH MAXWEL. ON A SWING. AT LONDON’S SANDERSON.
8
Neo-soul star Maxwells label threw him an album launch party on the London Eye where each revolving pod popped with his new music, champers and food. We rotated around and around taking in London’s skyline and Maxwell as he jumped from pod to pod mingling with guests and we all pinched ourselves at the fabulosity of it all. Pure ‘I-cant-believe-this’ vibe.
JASMINE INTERVIEWING JANET JACKSON FOR MTV IN THE LONDON DUNGEONS.
7
Janet Jackson’s record label in London threw an album launch at the London Dungeons with a party where each and every single room was styled like a different country with music, food/drink from that particular part of the world. I recall England (fish n chips/pop music), China (Chinese dim sum/Asian sounds), Jamaica,(jerk chicken/bashment) Thailand (Thai curry/Thai pop) ,India (samosas /banghra) ,America (hotdogs / hip-hop) and more. I have a reoccurring memory of walls of oysters, curries, chocolate fountains, delicacies and more blowing my mind….and physique. Most certainly the most opulent, expensive record label bash ever!
A MEMORABLE PARTY IN ST BARTS, WITH JAY Z, BEYONCE, MARIAH, LA REID AND MORE. I THINK IM TELLING BEY TO MIND HER CROWN AS ITS BLOCKING MY FACE IN THE PIC LOL.
6
Subterania ,Ladbroke Grove every Friday night in the nineties was THE spot to be. Guests queued for hours to get in but us regulars strolled unashamed straight to the front and partied hard. It was a club for the locals. The freshest young Londoners and every hot celeb internationally passing through would be there. Spike Lee, Prince, Eminem and more. Music by Femi, Alex Baby and more ensured the flyest crowd in the capital for dancing, fashion, fun and flirting. The roadblock outside at 3am when the party was done each week was as hype as the evening with young un’s hanging out till the early hours and continuing the party at the bagel shop in Shepherds Bush Green.
JASMINE THE CARNIVAL GIRL WITH MARIAH THE MERMAID AT THE COLLECTION.
5
For a few consecutive years, Mariah and I used to throw a party annually around Halloween in London. We had one at the Mandarin Hotel, another at Kingly St and another at The Collection in Kensington. There was always mass excitement, amazing fancy-dress costumes, celebs and normal peeps trying anything to get in and music mystros Richie P,DJ Nikki and Runningman killed the decks so our mates could wild out all night.
JASMINE AND QUINCY JONES DISCUSS WHY CARRYING A BOTTLE OF HOT PEPPER SAUCE ON ALL OCCASIONS IS MANDATORY.
4
Oprah had a weeklong gathering of loved ones that coincided with her opening of her girl’s school in South Africa. The New Years Eve party had very fancy decor. Flaming torch’s lined mountain paths leading to a giant marquee with dining tables, fancy frocks and star curtains. Every star from Hollywood both onstage and in music was there. My best moment was seeing music manager extraordinaire Benny Medina, music God Quincy Jones and actor Chris Rock all doing Michael Jackson dances onstage. Pretty mind-blowing.
JASMINES OLD SKOOL HIPHOP PARTY.
3
I’ve had a birthday party of some sort every year of my life. From black and white themed karaoke’s, underwear and pajama parties to mass private bowling parties, dinner parties at the Ivy Club and more. Some of my fave parties have been my Motown themed party, my old skool hip-hop party and all my underwear parties.
GUESTS AT JASMINES OLD SKOOL HIPHOP PARTY- AFTER PARTY DONE AND PHOTO SHOOT STARTED!
But my highlight was my geishas and gangstas party by the royal Albert Hall, which was attended by every music act in London. Tim Westwood, Richie P,DJ Nikki and more dj’ed back to back throwing down tunes all night like a house party. Lennox Lewis, Usher and Joe turned up too, (although Lennox left after an hour as I refused to have a VIP area – Puffy once taught me that if you ever throw a personal private function, never have a VIP, it simply makes guests feel inferior/superior and kills the goodtime vibes).
JASMINE’S BURLESQUE BIRTHDAY DINNER CABERATE.
2
MTV Base’ The Lick parties in London were spectacles across the city, with queues of clubbers lining up for miles as they were entertained outside by fire eaters, stilt walkers and jugglers. Inside they were full of hot, fly young people all dancing and flirting like mad. Always top music by Trevor Nelson and very sexy vibes all night that would later be seen on telly. You know if peeps are going to be seen on telly the guests would turn up really looking and feeling GOOD!.
ITS BEEN A ROLLERCOASTER RIDE WORKING WITH THIS MAN OVER THE YEARS. HE IS THE KING OF PARTY THROWING!
1
Puffy had numerous parties everywhere he went and every one was brilliant. He was a genius at throwing a party. His post MTV Awards party in Barcelona was truly mind-blowing. He greeted me and my mates (by name!) on the dance floor, flanked by minions with silver trays serving up copious amounts of champagne laden flutes. Naked hostesses painted like jungle animals and would bring you literally any drink you desired, free of charge all night long!. This party was closely followed by his yacht party in St Tropez (the yacht was so big it was like Westfields on water and Penelope Cruz was sun bathing with us during the day!) and one in Berkley Sq, London where I recall he and Beenieman dancing pretty wildly with us all.
SERIOUSLY, CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT THIS PARTY WAS LIKE. I CANT SAY WHO THREW IT, OR WHERE IT WAS, BUT HAVE YOU SEEN A MORE GLAMOROUS LINEUP OF SCREEN AND MUSIC STARS AND LEGENDS?