YouTube, Nas Plan Party To Celebrate Hip-Hop Ahead Of This Year’s Grammys

In order to snag some publicity ahead of this year’s Grammy Awards, YouTube is planning to throw a party that will speak to music exec Lyor Cohen‘s history in the hip-hop industry. Cohen and rapper Nas are teaming up to throw a pre-Grammys party that features some inventive invitations.

Cohen and Nas’ party will occur on January 26 in the rapper’s hometown of New York, two days before the 60th Grammys go down in the same city. The invite list will include some of the biggest names in hip-hop. Cohen, a former Warner Music exec, was once named by Complex as one of the ten most powerful figures in the rap world.

YouTube sent out the invites for its party through Google Home Max, which are capable of directing VIPs to the soiree. Stacked together, the boxes containing the devices formed the canvas for a mural painted by local artist Cycle

, who teamed up with YouTube to promote its celebratory event.

“We thought it would be original and unique,” Cohen said. “Our mission was not to do the typical same ole, same ole. But we wanted to do something thoughtful and exciting. It was fun. We had fun with it. … It’s about bringing the past to future. What better way to do it during Grammy week?”

For YouTube, the party is a way to rub shoulders with music industry big-shots as it looks to curry favor among them. Cohen, hired last year by YouTube, is leading the site’s charge to launch a service called Remix, which is expected to launch later this year.