Akin Alabi, born in

Lagos State Lagos State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Èkó) is a state in southwestern Nigeria. Of the 36 states, it is both the most populous and smallest in area. Bounded to the south by the Bight of Benin and to the west by the international border with Ben ...

, Nigeria, is a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

music video director, writer and entrepreneur. He is renowned as one of the video directors that pioneered the era of hiphop music video production in Nigeria and has worked with several top artistes including

9ice 9ice, born Alexander Abolore Adegbola Akande (born 17 January 1980), is a Nigerian musician, songwriter and dancer. He is known for his powerful use of the Yoruba language in his music as well as his proverbial lyrics and unique style of deliv ...

Timaya Inetimi Timaya Odon (born 15 August 1980), better known by his stage name Timaya, is a multiple award-winning Nigerian singer and songwriter. He hails from Odi, Bayelsa state, South-South Nigeria. He is fondly called the Egberi Papa 1 of Bayels ...

, Tope Alabi,

Onyeka Onwenu Onyeka Onwenu (born 31 January 1952) is a Nigerian singer/songwriter, actress, human right activist, social activist, journalist, politician, and former ''X Factor'' series judge. Dubbed the "Elegant Stallion" by the Nigerian press, she is a fo ...

, Reminisce,

Tim Godfrey (musician) Tim Godfrey is a Nigerian gospel singer. He is best known for his song ''Nara'' in collaboration with Travis Greene. He is the founder and owner of the record label Rox Nation and also the Founder of Xtreme Crew. Career Early life and care ...

, Ayanjesu, Paul Ik Dairo and many others.

Childhood and education

Alabi originally from

Ekiti State Ekiti State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Èkìtì) is a state in southwestern Nigeria, bordered to the north by Kwara State, to the northeast by Kogi State, to the south and southeast by Ondo State, and to the west by Osun State. Named for the Ekiti ...

started his educational journey at Lara Day Nursery and Primary School,

Ikeja Ikeja is the capital city of Lagos State in southwestern Nigeria. Its population, as of the 2006 census, is 313,196. Prior to the emergence of military rule in the early 1980s, Ikeja was a well planned, clean and quiet residential and commercia ...

Lagos, and later obtained his Ordinary Level School Certificate from

Federal Government College, Idoani The Federal Government College, Ido-ani, Ondo State, is a secondary institution located in Idoani, Ondo State in Nigeria. The school, like other Federal Government Colleges in Nigeria, was created by the Nigerian government as one of the federal ...

Ondo state Ondo State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Oǹdó) is a state in southwestern Nigeria. It was created on 3 February 1976 from the former Western State. It borders Ekiti State to the north, Kogi State to the northeast, Edo State to the east, Delta State to ...

. Thereafter, he proceeded to

University of Ilorin University of Ilorin, also known as Unilorin, is a federal government-owned university in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria. It was established by a decree of the federal military government in August, 1975. The establishment aimed to implement one o ...

, Kwara State to study Business Administration.

Career

Alabi who was into song writing and graphic designing during his university days confessed during one of his interviews that his passion for music prompted him to drop an album in 1999. Unfortunately, by the time Uzodinma Ukpechi, who was one of the major forces behind the camera then gave him the bill, Alabi claimed to have resolved to acquire equipment with the money. His knowledge in graphics and audio production served as a platform to explore his skill. After he shot a musical video for one up and coming artistes called Nachur for Blac in the 2004, Akin came into fame in 2005 with the musical video of Big Bamo and Paul Play's song titled Crazy. Akin who is also a professional photographer, can now be ranked among the best music video and home video directors in Nigeria. As an artiste, he formed a group with his wife called T.I.V that went on to release the hit single, Komole in 2012 which went on to win several awards including Nigeria Music Video Awards (NMVA) for best use of choreography, Nominee for Nigeria Music Video Awards (NMVA) under the Best Gospel Video category. His collections of video works include Konga's hit track titled Kabakaba, Komole by TIV ft Vector, ‘Gbamugbamu’ and ‘No be Mistake’ by 9ice; ‘Yankuliya,’ ‘God I beg,’ ‘If to Say’ by Timaya; ‘Promise Land’ by Paul Play; ‘Crazy’ by Julius Agwu; ‘Ariya’ by Ayuba; ‘Bu nwanem’ by Onyeka Onwenu; ‘Kabakaba’ by Konga; RCCG Praise Team album video; ‘Igboro Ti Daru’ by Klever J. He is the creator of the animation TV series on Nigerian proverbs called My Nigerian Proverb shows daily on

African Magic African magic is the form, development, and performance of magic within the culture and society of Africa and the diaspora. Meaning of the word magic The word magic might simply be understood as denoting management of forces, which, as an activit ...

, Trybetv, YangaTv (UK) and on BRT Buses in Lagos. In 2018, he release a book on Yoruba Proverbs titled Akomolowe: My Book of Yoruba Proverbs. He is passionate about the African culture and he is currently working on using the visual media to conserve the Yoruba culture in particular. He has many awards to his name including the 2012 City People award for Best Video Director, TAVA award for Best Video director and Best RnB video.

Personal life

Alabi married Damilare Alabi in 2008 and together they have a son and a daughter and reside in Lagos Nigeria.

References

People from Ekiti State Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Nigerian film directors Nigerian cinematographers Nigerian music video directors Nigerian documentary filmmakers Nigerian music industry executives Federal Government College Idoani alumni University of Ilorin alumni Nigerian film producers {{Nigerian-cinematographer