Friday
night and I’m feeling a bit nervous heading out to CIAA festivities in Charlotte, NC.
With friends doing other things, I’m left to roll solo to the Smirnoff Mix
Series party in Uptown.
And things couldn’t look any more packed. It’s late at night and traffic on the
roads immediately bring to mind rush hour on Monday. Bumper to bumper as I get
close to Hom, the hot spot for the evening.
As I walk to the club, I notice how cars aren’t the only things packing the
streets. Everybody is out here. The guys are sporting everything from slacks to
hoodies and sweatsuits to button downs and jeans, while the ladies proudly
display what they mama gave them as fashion statements are made in short
skirts, cleavage bearing tops and unique hairstyles. The CIAA was
definitely in the QC.
And I haven’t even made it to Hom yet. When I do, the long line
greets me when I look across the street. Nevertheless, I finally make it in
despite roadblocks from the door guys and the threat of a $100 cover to enter
since I didn’t have a $30 advance ticket or a stamp. Thank goodness for
connections. (Shout out to Candace, Derrick, Mike and Chris)
Hom was equipped with three levels to party on so there was no shortage of a
place to be seen. The dance floor was packed, which made it hard to move. Still
with Biz Markie on the ones and twos and EPMD’s Parrish Smith playing host over
a soundtrack of vintage and new Hip-Hop, R&B and reggae, somehow, someway
the spirit of dance was far from dead.
Watching it all from up top at Hom’s third floor nightclub was cool
as I notice the waitresses maneuvering through dancers with colorful flashing
trays representing the four Smirnoff flavors: green apple, raspberry, blueberry
and orange. Dressed in black Smirnoff T-shirts, they were passing out special
Mix Series CDs that featured updated classics from KRS One, Common and Q-Tip.
Hands go up and the crowd gets live with hits from Playaz Circle (“Duffle
Bag Boy”) Jay-Z (“PSA”), Kanye West (“Good Life,”
“Flashing Lights”) and Jim Jones (“We Fly High”) thrown in
the mix.
Add that to bangers from 50 Cent (“I Get Money”), Flo Rida
(“Low”), Chaka Demus (“Murder She Wrote), Junior Mafia (“Players
Anthem”) and Lil’ Kim (“Crush on You”) and I’m getting into the
groove with everyone else. To the left of me, a group of four girls are working
it out dancing while the couple on my right are grinding to the beat.
In the meanwhile, I get noticed by an NC A&T aggie. After telling her what
I was doing, I made my way to Liv, Hom’s second floor lounge.
This is where you get your conversation, eat and drink on while sitting at a
table with friends or the that person you had your eye on and danced with. I
even caught a funny rap cipher going on between a couple of guys who later got
their mack daddy vibe on when posing for a photo with their women. The floor
was brightly lit compared to the dim lights of the third and first floors.
Speaking of the first floor, the sounds of Webbie’s Lil’ Boosie-assisted hit
“Wipe Me Down” greeted me when I came down to small area that was
even more cramped than the third on the dance floor. No way was I going to
stand a chance of doing anything but moving side to side if I wanted to venture
out.
The mood got even crazier as Snoop Dogg’s “Sensual Seduction” came
on. “This my song,” I heard one girl say. “I know,” her
friend replied.
Even the guys knew what do to as the ladies headed to the already crowded dance
floor. “Oh s***,” said one guy as he heard the first few notes of the
hit.
And when the floor was too packed the dancing transitioned to other areas. By
then, I was protecting my bottle of Heinekin and making my way back up to the
third floor. The journey was cut short after I run into a guy who tells me that
the floor closed down at 2 a.m.
Jenna, the Hom girl working the entrance at the front door, confirmed what I
knew but denied while in my party mode. Looks like the heat from the
bodies inside didn’t get to her because she was shivering like the females
waiting in line outside to get in. The price of looking cute on a cold night.
Across the way, I overheard an interesting conversation going on about the
light versus dark-skinned issue. Turns out the lady I saw was voicing her
dislike of light skinned black men.
“I only date black, chocolate brothers,” she told the trio of
light-skinned guys. That’s when I jumped in to ask her why. And she told me
that she had been married to a light-skinned guy for six years. Leave it to one
guy to mess it up for the rest of us.
She didn’t get into specifics, but there was no convincing her that the actions
of one didn’t reflect on all. During all of this, I notice her writing her
number down. Not for me (of course), but for the dark-skinned brother sitting
across the room. “Can you do me a favor,” she asked. “Give this
to him and tell him that he won’t be disappointed.”
The art of mystery was alive and well. I thought. But when she revealed that he
had someone, I started feeling like an accomplice to some crime. I guess the
OPP mentality hasn’t died out. Yeah, I know her.
I slipped the guy the number and went on my merry way. He and his boy were
sitting with two girls I had my on. Too bad they beat me to the punch, but if
he played his cards right and was creative with the alibi, he could get a
solid jump-off to make his CIAA experience even more memorable.
I casually slipped back down to the first floor to catch the DJ going into a
Jay-Z set that had the floor jammed packed and singing along to various Jigga
staples. Total’s “Can’t You See” was playing as I wished Jenna a warm
rest of the night and faced the street traffic.
It was still bumper to bumper and people were still out and about, this time in
parking lot (or in this case) sidewalk pimpin’ mode.
Overall, it was a good night. The Mix Series a good time and then some. I later
got word that boxer Floyd Mayweather and rap star Chingy were in the building
before the party shut down at 4 a.m., but I didn’t see them. Although there
were tons of people, nothing negative happened aside from one guy I noticed on
my way to my car being taken away in handcuffs by the cops. Other than that, no
drama at all. Just a lot of love (and lust).
