Red Lipstick

**Red Lipstick** is a song by Ericka Streets. It was written entirely by Ericka herself and was produced by RedOne. Released as the second single from Ericka's self-titled sophomore album on 11 March 2008, it attained worldwide success, topping the charts in 18 countries (giving Ericka her first and only #1 single on the *Billboard* Hot 100) and peaking within the top 10 in all countries it charted except for Italy and Iceland.

## Music video

The music video for "Red Lipstick" was directed by Ericka herself, who intended it to portray the song's theme of feeling confident and liberated. The idea of everyone wearing red lipstick symbolised equality. Notably, the pool scene in the music video was the first time Ericka went anywhere near a body of water since her drowning accident in November 2006.

It was filmed in late March 2008 in Reichetto, Kuboia at an unoccupied mansion, and premiered on 8 May 2008 on MTV Kuboia. Ericka uploaded it to her YouTube channel the next day, releasing both the edited and explicit versions of the song.

The music video was banned from several TV channels in the Middle East because the scenes of men wearing lipstick were seen as "promoting effeminacy". In June 2008 on her MySpace account, Ericka posted in outrage about the situation: "*R these pple on some kinda CRACK? The red lipstick symbolised equality n banning the video cuz of men wearing lipstick is the exact OPPOSITE of equality.*"[sic]. She also advised her Middle Eastern fans to watch the video on YouTube instead of on television.

### Plot

The video opens with a scene of Ericka wearing a short black cocktail dress, applying red lipstick in the mirror of a vanity. She is then carried out of the room by several men dressed in white outfits, as she sings the song. While singing, she is put down and applies red lipstick to each of them. After doing so, she flips her hair, which transitions the setting between upstairs and downstairs.

Once downstairs, Ericka – now dressed in only a white-and-black men's suit jacket, fishnet tights, and a pair of black high heels – applies red lipstick to the manor's servants and is shown dismissing them from work. Immediately afterwards, her real-life friends Tammy Poehler, Viola, Amy-Elizabeth Phillips and Stefanee Louga walk in, wearing short red dresses. After applying red lipstick to each of them, she (Ericka) is carried outside by the men in white outfits, with her friends following.

During the second verse, Ericka and her friends perform a synchronised dance routine, which is intercut with scenes of female swimmers performing a synchronised swimming routine dressed in red swimsuits. Ericka and her friends then make their way towards the swimming pool, where Kool Teazer, Dan Guseo, Charlie Karma, Britney Spears, and the manor servants are laying in lounge chairs while dressed in red-and-white outfits. Ericka applies red lipstick to each of them, and is then shown taking off her high heels. She dives into the pool and the same female swimmers start to swim-dance around her.

During the bridge, Ericka's husband Spy Fandel - dressed in red and with blonde hair – joins Ericka in the pool. She applies red lipstick to him and he then holds her, while Ericka lays in the pool. As the final chorus plays, everyone joins them in the pool and swim-dances.

When the song ends, Ericka steps out of the pool and uses red lipstick to draw a heart on the camera. In the behind-the-scenes clip, it was revealed that the red lipstick heart was not a special effect, and that Ericka really did draw on the camera.