Red Lipstic Concert Creates Rivalry Among Artistes

NEWS-ONE has received reports of a fierce rivalry among the sixteen or so all-female artistes billed to perform at the Red Lipsticks Concert this Saturday at the Dome of the Accra International Conference Center.

It would be the first time only female artistes including Efya, Becca, Akosua Agya Agyepong, Sherifa Gunu, Tiffany, Raquel, Mzbel, Irene Logan, Bertha and Ohemaa Mercy would be performing on one stage for the same audience.

The rivalry has been attributed to petty squabbles and competition to out shine each other during rehearsals. It has also been confirmed that some artiste management companies from Los Angeles will be at the event to ‘scout’ for some of the female artistes to sign them on and this has heightened the competition among the girls.

“Eazzy and Tiffany would not just see eye to eye and they would not even pose for photographs but that is just a small part of the competition among them as they all want to prove that they are the best. There is also this issue about why some of the artistes are treated like adults and others as children. So the ones that feel they are treated as children started to show their class. During rehearsals they do things the others cannot do.

“For instance, last Friday when Akosua Agyepong was rehearsing, two of the girls came around and started rapping. They were saying that music lovers of today are not interested in ‘break-dance’ and that they would put up a performance that would make her feel outmoded,” a source from the rehearsal grounds at Awoshie in Accra told NEWS-ONE. The source continued that the issue of which of the girls would perform to a live band and who would use a CD and a DJ had also worsened the rivalry.

Mimi, for instance, NEWS-ONE gathered, has employed the services of five body guards with whom she goes everywhere, while Becca is reported to have requested that she be allowed to rehearse at Kiki Banson, her manager’s office, rather than join the others to avoid the rivalry.

Hype Records, organizers of the concert, are struggling to remain tight-lipped over the issue and are pretending the 16 stars are united but the fact is the rivalry is gradually getting out of hand. When NEWS-ONE contacted them over the matter, Sylvia Appiah, the General Manager, explained that it was not uncommon for some level of competition to exist among a group of professionals.

“But if you see any of the artistes with a private security, it would be unfair to say it is because of the competition they are having over this event. On the night, we shall have tight security for every one whether you are an artiste, a crew member or part of the audience,” she added.

NEWS-ONE also gathered that Hype Records had contracted Anaideia Services, an event security company, to work with the police in providing security for the night.