With bashes all around town in Los Angeles ahead of Grammy weekend, on Friday night the party was at The West Hollywood Edition.
The lobby was packed as guests made their way upstairs to the rooftop to toast Coco Jones. The woman of the hour had one request.
“Dancing is the requirement,” she said. “This isn’t a networking party, I’m sorry. If you haven’t made connections by this day, by this Friday, you’re out of luck. We’re dancing. We’re not catching content. We’re living in the moment.”
The 26-year-old singer-actor — nominated for five Grammys, including Best New Artist — was surrounded by her Def Jam team and closest friends. Guests included Snow Tha Product, Ryan Destiny, Lakeyah, Kaliii and Reginae Carter.
“Grammy nominations, sold out shows, less than two years later we’re here,” said Def Jam Recordings chief executive officer Tunji Balogun. “We’re all so proud of you. And we’re all so lucky to be able to work with you. And we know that this is just the beginning of your amazing musical journey — not the beginning but the new chapter, you know what I mean? You’ve been working so hard. You’re one of the hardest working people I know. And you deserve all of this. And we salute you. We cheers to you, and we love you.”
They raised their glasses, sipping on espresso martinis and lemon drops courtesy of the night’s host, Grey Goose.
“Let’s dance,” Jones went on. “Let’s have a good time.”
“That’s my girl,” said singer and Fenty model Margie Plus. What makes her a fan?
“Just seeing her growth from literally Disney to now,” Plus said of Jones, who got her start on Disney’s “So Random!” “And seeing someone who has been so motivated in her dreams. Because it just shows us that you can be more than one thing. You can be an actress. You can be a singer. You can be an influencer. You can be a songwriter. You can be all these things and still be an amazing artist.”
This summer Plus will appear in an MTV reality show alongside Chanel West Coast. “It’s about a group of friends that are trying to make it in Hollywood. We’re all in music, and we all come from different walks of life, but we’re all supporting each other and trying to lift each other up.”
She’s also getting ready to release her next single in about two weeks, “I Need It Now.”
“It’s a dance track,” she said. “It’s about being authentic to yourself. The opening lyrics are, ‘There is no right body type. We’re all the same under strobe lights.’”
Plus, who throws a weekly party at the hotel on Thursday nights, is no stranger to the strobe lights at The Edition’s basement club, Sunset, where the party continued at Boogie Nights. Hosted by producer and DJ Alissia Benveniste, it brought out Anderson .Paak, who took over the booth as DJ Pee Wee.
Leon Thomas, Destin Conrad, Shaun Ross, Tokio Hotel’s Bill Kaulitz and Lucky Daye danced under the mirrored disco balls. And in the very early morning hours, none other than Doja Cat dropped by, shying away from camera flashes.
