Who says Mondays are no fun?  Not them!

The 2018 MTV Video Music Awards is a night to celebrate… and there was no shortage of celebration after the sun went down in New York City on Monday, August 20th at Rich Valdes’ VIP Music Awards Cocktail Reception + After Party. The red carpet event, held at a private Manhattan venue, was a triple thrill: dance party, VMA viewing party, and a benefit for VH1’s Save the Music Foundation. While waiting for the Awards to start, attendees warmed up with crowd-pleasing funk- and soul-flavored pop music (including a lot of classics from the ’90’s) and enjoyed shots of Stoli’s newest creation: cucumber vodka and ginger beer. Celebrities in attendance included rapper Driicky Graham; Real Housewives of New Jersey star Danielle Staub; Grammy Award Winner and actor Anthony “Treach” Criss; BET Award Winner Dupre “Do-It-All” Kelly; WABC radio personality Curtis Sliwa; Big Brother contestants Ginamarie Zimmerman and Kaitlyn Herman; Grammy-winning recording artist/producer/philanthropist Pras Miché​l; Christian/gospel artist Mike Flowerz; Sophia Hanley and Cooper Boyd of Lunatic Fringe; LeA Robinson of First Family of Hip Hop; singer-songwriters Adri and Oli; hip hop artist Murakkh; Niva the Soul Diva; and many other movers and shakers in the music biz and beyond.

The night continued with exclusive live performances by Grammy-award winning hip hop recording artist and actor Treach; “Do-It-All” (celebrating the 25th anniversary of the music video for Lords of the Underground’s Here Come the Lords; Miss Moe Money from Love & Hip Hop; and Driicky Graham of Snapbacks and Tattoos fame, which peaked at number seven on the Billboard Charts.

There were also opening numbers by Lunatic Fringe and an acoustic cover set of the Pussycat Dolls’ Stickwitu performed by Adri and Oli,  and an electrifying debut by  Mike Flowerz, who was recently featured on the TV show Bronx SIU on the UMC.

VH1 Save The Music Foundation is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit charity organization dedicated to restoring instrumental music education in America’s public schools, and raising awareness about the importance of music as part of each child’s complete education. To date, the VH1 Save The Music Foundation has donated $49.5 million worth of new musical instruments, donated to nearly 1,850 public schools in more than 192 school districts around the country, impacting the lives of over 2.1 million public school students.  Visit www.vh1savethemusic.org for more info.

For more info about upcoming VIP events, visit www.ContinentalMediaGroup.com or follow Rich Valdes on social media @richvaldes.