“What makes a party a real success?” asks Jipsta as he opens the first verse of his current single, “Party Of The Year.” Thanks to a string of dancefloor hits that keep getting bigger and better, one answer is, increasingly, Jipsta himself. His rise is notable not just for its trajectory, but its singularity within the circuit world. Jipsta is a gay, white rapper, and unlike the Cazwells of the world, his sole focus thus far has been dance music and club culture. He paints himself lyrically as advanced in the art of having a good time, whether on “Middle Of The Dancefloor” or his clever cover of George Michael’s “I Want Your Sex.” Both singles reached the top five of the Billboard club chart, and “Nasty Boy,” a cheeky reworking of Vanity 6’s “Nasty Girl,” scored widespread play thanks to Jamie J. Sanchez’s bootleg mashup with Inaya Day’s own classic remake. His fun, sexy rap style is a far cry from when 1980s-version Jipsta was one of the few white teenagers in his predominantly black New York neighborhood (he now calls the New Jersey suburbs home). “There were always lunchroom rap battles at school, and I saw the attention people would get from a good rhyme,” he says. “Then I switched to a performing arts high school and hooked up with a kid who was into drum programming. My mom found us a studio, and by 10th grade I was recording demos.” While the witty and unserious style Jipsta is best known for was honed by then, he also paid close attention to the technical skills of pioneers like Big Daddy Kane. A development deal with a major label soon materialized, but never took off following the rapid rise and fall of Vanilla Ice. After years of furthering solidifying his writing and rapping skills, Jipsta was realistic about the prospect of success for gay rappers. “I switched gears and asked, ‘Who is my market?” A circuit star was born, which brings us to “Party Of The Year.” The song arose from a conversation between Jipsta and producer/remixer Michael T. Diamond, who pondered the ingredients that take a party from ordinary to transformative. “I wanted to do an updated, hip version of Kool & the Gang’s ‘Celebration,’ and he really kept pushing me to develop it more and more each step of the way,” Jipsta says. That chestnut is part of the public imagination thanks partly to its memorable chorus, and to give his stab the best shot at longevity, Jipsta followed Diamond’s advice by recruiting a guest vocalist for the first time, and one who knows a thing or two about recording an all-time classic: legendary diva Sandy B. The finished product will likely fulfill its titular destiny, thanks to mixes by heavy hitters like Manny Lehman, Alexander & Mark VDH and Jipsta’s Provocative Music label boss, Chris Cox. With crossover radio attention a possibility as well, thanks to Cox’s anthemic but accessible remix, this “Party” could last well into next year too.