Meji Alabi

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Meji Alabi
Birth nameMeji Alabi
Born (1988-12-13) 13 December 1988 (age 33)
London, UK
Occupation(s)Filmmaker, music video director, Photographer, Producer
Years active2014 - Present
Websitemejialabi.com

Meji Alabi (born 13 December 1988) is a London-born Nigerian filmmaker, director, photographer and producer. He is a director and has worked alongside Beyonce,[1][2] Burna Boy,[3] Wizkid,[4] [5][6][7][8]Davido, Tiwa Savage, Popcaan, Goldlink, and Nasty C.[9]

Early life[]

Born on December 13, 1988, in London, Meji spent a lot of his childhood on the move with his father after his parents’ separation in 1989. He shuffled between London, the Bahamas, and Texas, USA. He attended Spring Forest middle school and Stratford High school both in Houston, Texas. Meji Alabi graduated from the University of West London with a first-class summa cum laude distinction in accounting and finance, and also holds a Licensed Vocational Nursing degree from St. Phillips College in San Antonio, Texas.[10][11]

Career[]

In 2014, Meji Alabi co-founded JM Films with Jimi Adesanya.[12] JM films ( a subsidiary of Unbound Studios) is a media and production services company specialised in creative visuals, music videos, commercials, movies and television and is based in Lagos, Nigeria. He is also a co-founder of Priorgold Pictures which is a production outfit based in Lagos Nigeria, created to service the needs of the entertainment industry by providing equipment and personnel for the execution of creative visual content.

In 2014, he directed the music video for ‘Murda’ performed by Seyi Shay featuring Patoranking, Shaydee. The success of this video garnered him much attention in the Nigerian music industry and it was nominated in the same year at the MTV Africa Music Awards for Best Video. Also in 2014, he directed the music video for ‘Crazy’ performed by Seyi Shay featuring Wizkid and that video was nominated in 2015 for Best Music Video of the Year (Artist and Director) at the Nigeria Entertainment Awards and also Best Music Video at The Headies 2015.

In 2016, he directed the video for ‘Kontrol’ by Maleek Berry which marked a new wave of him directing music videos for the Nigerian music industry’s elite. In the same year, he directed ‘Aje’ performed by Alikiba which won the Best Music Video award at the Soundcity MVP Awards Festival in 2017.[13]

In 2018, Meji directed the video for Davido’s single ‘Assurance’ off the ‘A Good Time’.

Since 2018, Meji Alabi has worked with Burna Boy on some of his projects. He directed Pull Up, On The Low, and Gum Body featuring Jorja Smith off Burna Boy's album ‘African Giant’. Meji also directed the videos for Way Too Big, Wonderful, Monsters You Made featuring Chris Martin and Real Life featuring Stormzy off the ‘Twice As Tall’ album.

Meji Alabi also worked with Wizkid on the Made in Lagos album, and holds directing credits for the music videos for Ginger featuring Burna Boy, No Stress and Smile featuring H.E.R

In 2020, Meji Alabi served as the producer in charge of the Nigerian footage for the Black Is King visual project executively produced by Beyonce Knowles-Carter. He also worked alongside Ibra Ake and Jenn Nkiru to execute the Grammy Award-winning ‘Brown Skin Girl’ music video and was a co-director for the same.[14][15][16]

In 2021, Meji Alabi worked with Black Dog Films as director of the visual project for the ‘Zero Malaria: Draw The Line Against Malaria’ campaign. The movement features Nigerian actress and philanthropist Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, actor and entrepreneur Osas Ighodaro, Kenyan Olympic Gold-medallist and marathon world record-holder Eliud Kipchoge, South African explorer and mountaineer Saray Khumalo, Nigerian artist Laolu Senbanjo current captain of the South Africa national Rugby team Siya Kolisi, and Rwandan-British choreographer Sherrie Silver.[17]

Videography[]

Title Year Artist(s) Ref(s)
"Murda" 2014 Seyi Shay (feat. Patoranking & Shaydee)
"Crazy" 2015 Seyi Shay (feat. Wizkid)
"Satan Be Gone" Asa
"Eyo" Asa
"Right Now" Seyi Shay
"Never Gonna Stop" Niyola
"Kontrol" 2016 Maleek Berry
"Aje" Alikiba
"For Life" 2017 Runtown
"Ma Lo" Tiwa Savage (feat. Wizkid)
"All Night" Yungen (feat. Mr Eazi)
"Unstable" Zak Abel
"Been Callin" Maleek Berry
"All Night" Yungen
"Sugarcane" Tiwa Savage
"Check" 2018 Kojo Funds (feat. Raye)
"Space For Two" Mr. Probz
"Property" Mr Eazi
"Fever" Wizkid
"Get it now Remix" Tiwa Savage ( feat. Omarion)
"Assurance" Davido
"On the low" Burna Boy
"Dunrich" Popcaan (feat.Davido)
"Pon My mind" Maleek Berry
"Jungle" Nasty C
"Energy" Skepta & Wizkid
"No Crime" Nomso Amadi
"London Town" Mr Eazi feat. Giggs
"Take Over" Beatfreakz feat. Mr Eazi, Seyi Shay, Shakka,
"Dis Love" 2019 DJ Spinall (feat. Wizkid & Tiwa Savage)
"Sweet in the middle" Davido(feat. Naira Marley, Zlatan Ibile & Wurld)
"Pull Up" Burna Boy
"Risky" Davido (feat.Popcaan)
"Traffic Jam" Banx+Ranx feat. Kojo Funds
"Gum Body" Burna Boy (feat. Jorja Smith)
"49-99" Tiwa Savage
"Zulu Screams" Goldlink
"Body Deep" Wavy The Creator
"Hold Me Down" Eugy feat. Wavy The Creator
"Wonderful" 2020 Burna Boy
"4AM" Manny Norte
"Dangerous Love" Tiwa Savage
"Cause A Commotion" Bugzy Malone feat. Skip Marley
"Cool As A Breeze" Chronixx
"Monsters You Made" Burna Boy feat. Chris Martins
"Cool Me Down" Dj Tunez (feat. Wizkid)
"Way Too Big" Burna Boy
"Kini Issue" Runtown
"No Stress" Wizkid
"Smile" Wizkid (feat. H.E.R)
"lento" Mr eazi (feat. J Balvin)
"Real Life" Burna Boy feat. Stormzy
"Ginger" 2021 Wizkid (feat. Burna Boy)

Commercials[]

Title Year Brand(s) Ref(s)
"Cloth Surgeon" 2016 Complex & Selfridges
"Npango" 2017 Tigo Nipa
"S4" 2018 Infinix
"Fashion Week" GTB
"Beauty Launch Campaign" 2019 UOMA
"Autism: A Mother Knows" GTB
"Food & Drink" GTB
"Fashion Is Freedom " GTB
"No. 5" Infinix

Awards and nominations[]

Year Event Prize Recipient Result Ref(s)
2014 MTV Africa Music Awards 2014 Best Video Nominated
2015 2015 Nigeria Entertainment Awards Best Music Video of the year (Artist & Director) "Crazy"
(Seyi Shay)
Nominated
The Headies 2015 Best Music Video Director "Seyi Shay (Crazy)" [A] Nominated
2016 The Headies 2016 Nominated
2017 Nigeria Entertainment Awards Music Video of the Year "Seyi Shay(Yolo Yolo)" Won
Soundcity MVP Awards Festival Best Music Video "Alikiba (Aje)" [A] Won
2018 Nigeria Entertainment Awards Best Music Video of the year (Artist & Director) "Malo"
(Tiwa Savage)
Nominated
The Headies 2018 Best Music Video Director "Tiwa Savage (Malo)" [A] Nominated
2020 The Headies 2020 "Wizkid (Smile)" [A] Nominated
Soundcity MVP Awards Festival Video Of The Year "Tiwa Savage (49-99)" Won [18][19]

References[]

  1. ^ "A N T I on Instagram: "Black Is King, a film by @beyonce.⁣ Super pumped to have played our part on the Nigerian chapter of this film