The Chief Executive Officer of RuffTown Records, Ricky Nana Agyeman, has disclosed that he recently paid $100,000 to the father of late Ghanaian musician Ebony Reigns as part of the artiste’s royalties.
Speaking in an interview on Okay FM, Bullet said the amount represented 50 percent of Ebony’s royalties, although the original agreement allegedly entitled the singer to only 20 percent.
“I recently gave Ebony’s father $100,000, which is 50% of Ebony’s royalties. Ebony was entitled to 20% shares, but her father made me increase it to 50%,” he said.
According to him, the late singer’s father, Starboy Kwarteng, pushed for an increase in the royalty share following her death in 2018.
Bullet further claimed that funds initially earmarked for promoting Ebony’s music were handed over to her father at his request.
“After we did Ebony’s first party, he said I should give his daughter’s money to him. The money was meant to promote and campaign for Ebony’s work, but I went with him to the bank and withdrew it for him. He doesn’t talk about it anywhere,” he added.
The music executive said he had previously refrained from making the disclosure despite what he described as repeated public criticism from Kwarteng.
Bullet and Ebony’s father have had a strained relationship since the singer’s death, with disagreements over royalties, management, and the handling of her legacy occasionally playing out in public.
Ebony Reigns, born Priscilla Opoku-Kwarteng, died in a road accident on February 8, 2018, on the Sunyani-Kumasi highway at the age of 20.
She rose to prominence with hit songs including “Sponsor”, “Kupe”, “Maame Hwɛ” and “Poison”, and remains one of Ghana’s most celebrated female artistes.
In 2018, she was posthumously awarded Artiste of the Year at the Ghana Music Awards.
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