Ibra Ake is a Nigerian-American artist. He has worked as a director, screenwriter, producer, photographer, and creative director. He is best known for his work as a writer on the FX show, ''

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

'', and director on Beyonce's visual album, ''

Black is King ''Black Is King'' is a 2020 American musical film and visual album directed, written, and executive produced by American singer Beyoncé. It is a visual companion to the 2019 album '' The Lion King: The Gift'', curated by Beyoncé for ''The Lio ...

''. In 2019, he won a Grammy as a producer on Childish Gambino's music video, ''This is'' ''America''.

Career

Photography

Ibra Ake started off as a portrait and fashion photographer, shooting for various

Condé Nast Condé Nast () is a global mass media company founded in 1909 by Condé Montrose Nast, and owned by Advance Publications. Its headquarters are located at One World Trade Center in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan. The company's media ...

publications, beauty brands, and music acts.

Childish Gambino

Through photography Ake met Donald Glover at a time when Glover was still a rising musician under the name Childish Gambino. After becoming friends, they started to share ideas and Ake became Glover's creative director. This collaboration led to countless other projects with Glover, as well as with the other members of the collective, Royalty - their creative group that was formed in 2012. Ake has served as creative director for almost all of Childish Gambino's albums and tours.

Atlanta

Ake has written numerous episodes for the first three seasons of the Emmy Award–winning series ''

''. He also directed an episode from season three, "White Fashion," and has also guided the show's marketing outreach.

Film

Ake was a producer on the short visual film, '' Guava Island'' that was shot in Cuba by Hiro Murai and starred Donald Glover, Rihanna, and Leticia Wright. In 2020, he directed and consulted on Beyonce's visual album, ''

,'' specifically the videos for "Brown Skin Girl", "Water," and "Keys to the Kingdom."

Other

Notable creative direction projects include:

Tiwa Savage Tiwa Savage (born 5 February 1980) is a Nigerian singer-songwriter and performing artist. Born in Isale Eko, she relocated to London at the age of 11 for her secondary education. Five years later, she began her music career doing backup voc ...

's ''49-99''; Spotify's RapCaviar Pantheon; Adidas, ''Donald Glover Presents''; '' Pause with Sam Jay''; SNL; and Pharos.

Awards

At the

61st annual Grammy Awards The 61st Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on February 10, 2019, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Singer-songwriter Alicia Keys hosted. During her opening monologue, Keys brought out Lady Gaga, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jennifer Lopez, and ...

in 2019, Ibra Ake won a Grammy for Best Music Video, as a producer for Childish Gambino's viral and acclaimed music video for '' This is America.''

Family

Ibra Ake is the son of

Claude Ake Claude Ake (18 February 1939 in Omoku – 7 November 1996) was a Nigerian political scientist from Omoku, in Rivers State, Nigeria. Ake (pronounced AH-kay) was considered "one of Africa's foremost political philosophers." He specialized in polit ...

, a renowned Nigerian political scientist.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ake, Ibra Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American photographers 21st-century American writers