Jay-Z threw a birthday bash at Los Angeles' Cabana Club for fellow industry player Steve Stoute, the man who hooked the rapper up with his Reebok sneaker line, last Sunday night. On hand to pay their respects were Will Smith, the Game, Black Eyed Peas' Will.I.Am and Mary J. Blige, who did the "Happy Birthday" honors. Doug E. Fresh -- who reported that he's working on new material with the Neptunes -- spun at the party. He had a blast, but it wasn't quite his best gig: "I did a pool party in Las Vegas where the whole crowd was naked" . . .
The next night, it was breakout crunk star Ciara's turn to play host, as she and her LaFace Records threw down at the Geisha House to celebrate her field-leading four nominations for the BET Awards. "I'm mildly obsessed with Ciara," said actress Gabrielle Union (The Honeymooners, Bad Boys II). "I tried her 'Oh' moves on top of my car, but it didn't quite look the same. Maybe Luda needs to be driving it." Ciara will next show off her moves when she joins 50 Cent, Ludacris and Lil Jon for late July/August some dates in. "It's all going so fast right now," she said. "I'm trying to catch up with it" . . .
Another actress in the House was Dominique Swain (Lolita, Tart), who co-stars with Justin Timberlake -- as well as Sharon Stone, Bruce Willis and Emile Hirsch -- in director Nick Cassavetes' Alpha Dog. How does J.T. fare alongside the experienced group of thespians? "He's awesome," Swain reports. "I thought I might have to put up with this star, but he was so normal, so nice and a really talented actor" . . .
Speaking of musicians turned actors, Mos Def made a surprise appearance three thousand miles away the following night. But before he jumped on stage to join De La Soul at designer Marc Ecko's Save the Rhinos benefit in New York's Central Park, the rapper revealed the name of his next record. "It's gonna be called The Undeniable Free Original Black Now." We're thinking that's tentative . . .
Riding high on the success of his new album, Be, Common was making the rounds on the Kodak Theater's red carpet for the BET Awards Tuesday. But the rapper isn't resting on his laurels, as he wrote and recorded a piece for Kanye West's new album. "It's really like an interlude," Common said. "It's beautiful though. It's called 'Home': 'Home is where the hatred is.'" He plans to team with West and John Legend on the G.O.O.D. Music tour this fall . . .
Later, on the carpet, new mommy Lil' Mo wondered if Beyonce has learned some "retirement" tricks from her boyfriend. "I think that's a Jay-Z thing," she said of Destiny's Child, who were making one of their final TV appearances at the awards. "We retire, we sell more records, we do another album . . . Marketing is a bear."
Additional reporting by Tracey Ford