Mansion madness took on new meaning last night at DJ Khaled’s annual birthday bash, seven hours of bliss featuring more than a dozen live performances from Khaled’s collaborators and friends in the hip-hop world. Each year, the event cranks out more ballin’ than the NFL playoffs, and all the local families came out to celebrate, from Terror Squad, to Slip-N-Slide and of course, the Carol City Cartel. Even ex-Cane Willis McGahee showed Miami love at a table up front. Goose and Patron were flowing at the VIP bottle service (minimum purchase of six bottles per party) as others paid ode to Dade County, blazing Phillies and Dutches all night long. DJ Entice spun new and old school jams to keep the party going.
T-Pain was the first to show some birthday love to Khaled and the crowd with a bumpin’ lineup, including a trip back to 2005’s “I’m Sprung.” Flo-Rida came out teasing the ladies with a topless performance including hit-single, “Get Low.” Trina, still reigning supreme as ‘Da Baddest Bitch, dropped her new track, “Single Again,” followed by a headlining set by Trick Daddy, with the emotional tribute “Thug Holiday.” Rick Ross hustled, Fat Joe leaned back and Plies called out to all his shawties. Young Joc sipped Patron, while Lil Scrappy yapped about money in the bank. Young Jeezy came out for the “I’m So Hood” Remix and J Holiday crooned “Bed” acapella, a treat and change of pace. Sean Kingston’s rep came out with a bundle of $10,000 to compensate for Kingston’s absence, and Khaled exclaimed, “Give it to the kids, give it to charity.”
The mood of celebration was apparent in the smoke-filled air and the night dragged into the early morning hours, typical of the marriage between hip-hop and Mansion. The show stoppers had the crowd on their feet the entire time and the party-goers were all smiles. Rumor has is that the stress of the party planning has Khaled in a frenzy every year...better be careful not to have a coronary trying to top it all in ’08. --Tracy Block
