Akin Alabi, born in

Lagos State Lagos State (, ) is a States of Nigeria, state in South West, Nigeria. Of the 36 States of Nigeria, Nigerian states, Lagos is the second List of Nigerian states by population, most populous state but the List of Nigerian states by area, smallest ...

, Nigeria, is a

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

music video director A music video director is the head, overseer or facilitator of music video production. The director conceives of videos' artistic and dramatic aspects while instructing the musical act, technical crew, actors, models, and dancers. They may or ...

, 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 Akande Abolore Adegbola Alexander Ajifolajifaola (born Abolore Adegbola Akande), better known as 9ice (pronounced nice; born 17 January 1980), is a Nigerian singer, songwriter and dancer. He is known for his powerful use of the Yoruba language ...

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, Tope Alabi,

Onyeka Onwenu Onyeka Onwenu (31 January 1952 – 30 July 2024) was a Nigerian singer-songwriter, actress, human rights and social activist, journalist, politician, and ''X Factor'' series judge. Dubbed the "Elegant Stallion" due to her significant impact on ...

, Reminisce, Tim Godfrey (musician), Ayanjesu, Paul Ik Dairo and many others.

Childhood and education

Alabi originally from

Ekiti State Ekiti () is a state in southwestern Nigeria, bordered to the North by Kwara State for 61 km, to the Northeast by Kogi State for 92 km, to the South and Southeast by Ondo State, and to the West by Osun State for 84 km. Named for the Ekiti ...

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

Ikeja Ikeja is the List of capitals of states of Nigeria, 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, cl ...

Lagos, and later obtained his Ordinary Level School Certificate from Federal Government College, Idoani,

Ondo state Ondo () is a States of Nigeria, state in Points of the compass, southwestern Nigeria. It was created on 3 February 1976 from the former Western State (Nigeria), Western State. Ondo borders Ekiti State to the north, Kogi State to the northeast fo ...

. Thereafter, he proceeded to

University of Ilorin University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) is a federal government-owned public research university in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria. The university's main campus sits on an expansive area of land, about 5,000 hectares in the ancient city of Ilorin; making ...

Kwara State Kwara () is a state in Western Nigeria, bordered to the east by Kogi State, to the north by Niger State, and to the south by Ekiti, Osun, and Oyo states, while its western border makes up part of the international border with Benin. Its ca ...

to study Business Administration.

Career

Alabi, who was into songwriting and graphic design 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 (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 graphics and audio production knowledge served as a platform to explore his skills prompting, which prompted him to drop an album in 1999. Unfortunately, by the time Uzodinma Ukpechi, (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 graphics and audio production knowledge served as a platform to explore his skill. After he shot a musical video for one up and coming artiste 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, 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 two sons and reside in Lagos Nigeria.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alabi, Akin 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