Ms. Dawson, who has known Mr. Ernest since they met at a swimming pool in Brooklyn when she was “just a little girl,” said, “What I love about Jamison is that he is passionate, he is the real thing.” It should be noted Ms.
Dawson donated generously via Kickstarter to his art show and fashion label.
Around 10 p.m., we found ourselves out on the rooftop patio with a man named Jonathan Keyes, a self-proclaimed “white Jewish rapper” who was boasting about being recently signed to Republic Records under the name Blind-Scuba-Divers.
“If you look on Republic’s website, I’m right under Birdman and right above Busta Rhymes,” he said, failing to mention that his photo also appears to the left of Bow Wow’s. His latest track, “Working on My Tan, Bitch” has the potential to become a catchy club hit while simultaneously making Robin Thicke look like a feminist.
Mr. Keyes was also responsible for one of YouTube’s most viral original songs. To date, “Perfect Two” has racked up almost 66 million views, and though it’s sung by someone named Auburn, Mr. Keyes is credited with co-writing lines such as “Cuz you’re the apple to my pie/ You’re the straw to my berry/ You’re the smoke to my high/ And you’re the one I want to marry.”
Mr. Ernest is one of those New Yorkers who seem to know everybody by two degrees. Take the party’s co-sponsors: 21-year-olds Billy McFarland and Martin Howell and 23-year-old William Weldon. (Together they are the future moguls behind Magnises, a new VIP luxury credit and debit card that looks like an Amex black and has the heft of a paperweight.)
Mr. Ernest knew of the start-up through Mr. Weldon’s mother, one of his patrons, who had asked Mr. Ernest to offer his advice to the aspiring financiers, in exchange for donating to his various ventures. What did that advice entail, we wondered? “I just kept them from making some really dumb decisions,” Mr. Ernest replied.
