'Source' party expands Valley's hip-hop scene

About 60 eager clubbers packed the front entrance of Myst Nightclub in Oldtown Scottsdale on Thursday night. Dressed in tight dresses, button up shirts and a surprising number of sunglasses, they worked hard to get the bouncers' attention.

The chaos was momentarily shifted when a party bus pulled up. Even party-goers on the front patio strained to see who was on board.

First, a glamed up woman with big hair wearing a body-hugging gold dress and bright red lipstick stepped out. Then a sea of people quickly followed, including hip -hop artists Gemini and 2 Pistols, and The Source magazine's president Jeremy Miller.

While Myst is known mostly for its techno nights, for one night, the self-proclaimed "Bible of Hip-Hop" took over for its 20th anniversary, bringing with it a diverse and rowdy crowd.

"I was really surprised that Myst is hosting this party," said Gaby Carranza, 29, of Phoenix. "But it's really cool."

At about 10 p.m., the club was about a fourth full. The magazine rented out the entire venue, which includes a neighboring lounge. Early arrivers munched on food catered by Moe's Southwest Grill and a few started busting out moves, even off the dance floor.

"I'm just so excited to see big Gemini, oh yeah," said Phoenix resident Maggie Ortiz, 27, grinding her body as she said the rapper's name.

Gemini and 2 Pistols hit the "stage" (more of a small platform surrounded by fence, overlooking the dance floor), at around 11:40 p.m. The main areas were packed and the crowd was fired up, waving their hands, snapping pictures and reaching out to grab the rappers' hands, jeans, shoes-anything.

"We are putting the city on the map," said Gemini. "People won't call Arizona the West coast, and we got love for the West coast, but we are in the Southwest!"

The duo fired through several songs, and Gemini pulled some ladies on the stage to dance while 2 Pistols serenaded the crowd. The ladies swooned when Gemini stripped off his brown military shirt to reveal a tight black muscle tank and chiseled arms.

"Gemini was so (explicit word) awesome!" gushed 21-year old Bella Burruell from Chandler.

The dance floor was nearly impossible to move through at the point, and even the upper level V.I.P. section was filled to capacity. Wristband-wearing partiers were impatient, forced to wait for people to leave before they could go up.

Even so, event promoter Sal Pena had hoped for more people to show up.

"We had expected more people, but it's a busy night with the block party at Axis and Suede and a big event at Dirty Pretty," he said. "But it's a diverse crowd which is good, and in the future I hope it opens these places up to more people."

Besides just celebrating the magazine's anniversary, the night was also about promoting hip-hop in the Valley, a scene that has been there but hasn't always been obvious.

"If events can be promoted correctly, I think it will really bring more of a hip-hop scene to the Valley," said Sabrina Paguia, 29, from Peoria.

As the eclectic crowd bumped and grinded the night away to Ludacris and Ray-J, it was clear that the hip-hop presence and strong and maybe one day, there to stay.

Rapper Big Geminii performs Thursday, July 3, 2008 at Myst in Scottsdale for The Source's 20th Anniversary party.