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 List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

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

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

''. In 2019, he won a Grammy as a producer on

Childish Gambino Donald McKinley Glover Jr. (; born September 25, 1983), also known by his musical stage name Childish Gambino (), is an American actor, comedian, musician, and filmmaker. While he studied at New York University and after working in Derrick ...

'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 Nast (businessman), Condé Montrose Nast (1873–1942) and owned by Advance Publications. Its headquarters are located at One World Trade Center in the FiDi, Financial Dis ...

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 ''Guava Island'' is a 2019 American musical film directed by Hiro Murai (his feature directorial debut) with a screenplay by Stephen Glover written by Donald Glover, Stephen Glover, Ibra Ake, Jamal Olori and Fam Udeorji. It stars Donald Glover ...

'' that was shot in Cuba by

Hiro Murai Hiro Murai (born 1983) is a Japanese-born American filmmaker based in Los Angeles. He is best-known for music videos for Childish Gambino, Earl Sweatshirt, Chet Faker and others. His music video and television work has received widespread ac ...

and starred

Donald Glover Donald McKinley Glover Jr. (; born September 25, 1983), also known by his musical stage name Childish Gambino (), is an American actor, comedian, musician, and filmmaker. While he studied at New York University and after working in Derrick ...

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, businesswoman, and actress. One of the List of music artists by net worth, wealthiest musicians in the world, List of awards and nominations received by Rihanna, her vario ...

, and Leticia Wright. In 2020, he directed and consulted on Beyonce's visual album, ''

,'' specifically the videos for "

Brown Skin Girl "Brown Skin Girl" (stylized in uppercase) is a song by American singer Beyoncé, her daughter Blue Ivy Carter, Guyanese-American rapper Saint Jhn, and Nigerian singer Wizkid. Produced by P2J and Beyoncé, it is taken from the 2019 soundtrack alb ...

", "Water," and "Keys to the Kingdom."

Television

Ake wrote and directed an episode of the TV series, '' Swarm''.

Other

Notable creative direction projects include:

Tiwa Savage Tiwatope Omolara Savage (born 5 February 1980), known professionally as Tiwa Savage (), is a Nigerian singer, songwriter and actress. Savage sings in English, Nigerian Pidgin and Yoruba; her music is a blend of afrobeats, R&B, afropop, p ...

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

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

''; 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 fo ...

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, a renowned Nigerian political scientist.

References

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