So Young Jeezy didn't make it.

Word on the street was that the hiphopper, for whatever reason, didn't get on his bus from Atlanta until 1 p.m. last night. Seeing as it takes a good 10 hours to make the drive, he wasn't getting to the 9:30 Club in time for Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's eveningtime inaugural party.

But look who did make it.

The super-duper surprise guest was none other than Wyclef Jean, partymaster extraordinaire, who whipped up the crowd with a selection of mostly Fugees classics and top-notch stage antics. "You guys aren't crazy enough for the mayor," he said early on. That was after he brought the politics in a big way: "Tell me one thing George Bush did that was good!" he cried. "This is my message for George Bush....Get the hell out of the White House!"

The story behind Wyclef's appearance, LL hears, is astonishingly simple: Fenty met the man Saturday night at the "Green Ball" and asked him if he'd like to appear at the mayoral event. He agreed.

Read More "Fenty Party Wrap-Up: Wyclef! Usher! Joel Klein!" »

Tonight’s Green Ball, at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium on Constitution Avenue, NW, is a “really good ball,” says Erik Wemple, reporting from the scene.

In fact, Wemple says that the evening’s entertainment, singer/rapper Wyclef Jean, “is rockin’ it!” Jason Cherkis adds that there are “muffin-shaped apple pies with cheese on top,” and that, even at the end of the night, “they are still warm. Yum.”

The Green Ball’s celebrity attendees include: Hayden Panettiere, of Heroes fame, and singer Jackson Browne.

Yamiche Alcindor, a senior at Georgetown University, tells Cherkis the event is “amazing” and well worth the $500 ticket price, since it “goes to a good cause.” The Green Ball’s mission was to “have a minimal impact while maintaining the aesthetics, quality and standards expected from an Inaugural ball experience,” according to event literature.

Still, Alcindor admits she didn’t buy a ticket to get into the ball. “I didn’t actually pay $500,” she says, adding, “students can’t pay for balls.”