# Meji Alabi

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, Burna Boy, Wizkid,Davido, Tiwa Savage, Popcaan, Goldlink, Koffee and Nasty C. He directed his first feature film in 2024, Water and Garri, starring Tiwa Savage.

## 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.

## Career

In 2014, Alabi co-founded JM Films with Jimi Adesanya. 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.
In 2018, Alabi directed the video for Davido’s single ‘Assurance’ off the ‘A Good Time’.
Since 2018, 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.
He has 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, Alabi served as a producer alongside Jimi Adesanya for 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 for which he was credited as co-director.
In 2021, 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.
Alabi directed and co-wrote his first feature film, Water and Garri, starring Tiwa Savage and released in 2024

## Videography

| Title | Year | Artist(s) |
| "Murda" | 2014 | Seyi Shay (feat. Patoranking & Shaydee) |
| "Crazy" | 2015 | Seyi Shay (feat. Wizkid) |
| "Satan Be Gone" | 2015 | Asa |
| "Eyo" | 2015 | Asa |
| "Right Now" | 2015 | Seyi Shay |
| "Never Gonna Stop" | 2015 | Niyola |
| "Kontrol" | 2016 | Maleek Berry |
| "Aje" | 2016 | Alikiba |
| "For Life" | 2017 | Runtown |
| "Ma Lo" | 2017 | Tiwa Savage (feat. Wizkid) |
| "All Night" | 2017 | Yungen (feat. Mr Eazi) |
| "Unstable" | 2017 | Zak Abel |
| "Been Callin" | 2017 | Maleek Berry |
| "All Night" | 2017 | Yungen |
| "Sugarcane" | 2017 | Tiwa Savage |
| "Check" | 2018 | Kojo Funds (feat. Raye) |
| "Space For Two" | 2018 | Mr. Probz |
| "Property" | 2018 | Mr Eazi |
| "Fever" | 2018 | Wizkid |
| "Get It Now Remix" | 2018 | Tiwa Savage ( feat. Omarion) |
| "Assurance" | 2018 | Davido |
| "On The Low" | 2018 | Burna Boy |
| "Dun Rich" | 2018 | Popcaan (feat.Davido) |
| "Pon My Mind" | 2018 | Maleek Berry |
| "Jungle" | 2018 | Nasty C |
| "Energy" | 2018 | Skepta & Wizkid |
| "No Crime" | 2018 | Nonso Amadi |
| "London Town" | 2018 | 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" | 2019 | Davido(feat. Naira Marley, Zlatan Ibile & Wurld) |
| "Pull Up" | 2019 | Burna Boy |
| "Risky" | 2019 | Davido (feat. Popcaan) |
| "Traffic Jam" | 2019 | Banx+Ranx feat. Kojo Funds |
| "Gum Body" | 2019 | Burna Boy (feat. Jorja Smith) |
| "49-99" | 2019 | Tiwa Savage |
| "Zulu Screams" | 2019 | Goldlink |
| "Body Deep" | 2019 | Wavy The Creator |
| "Hold Me Down" | 2019 | Eugy feat. Wavy The Creator |
| "Wonderful" | 2020 | Burna Boy |
| "4AM" | 2020 | Manny Norte |
| "Dangerous Love" | 2020 | Tiwa Savage |
| "Cause A Commotion" | 2020 | Bugzy Malone feat. Skip Marley |
| "Cool As A Breeze" | 2020 | Chronixx |
| "Monsters You Made" | 2020 | Burna Boy feat. Chris Martins |
| "Cool Me Down" | 2020 | DJ Tunez (feat. Wizkid) |
| "Way Too Big" | 2020 | Burna Boy |
| "Kini Issue" | 2020 | Runtown |
| "No Stress" | 2020 | Wizkid |
| "Smile" | 2020 | Wizkid (feat. H.E.R) |
| "Lento" | 2020 | Mr Eazi (feat. J Balvin) |
| "Real Life" | 2020 | Burna Boy feat. Stormzy |
| "Ginger" | 2021 | Wizkid (feat. Burna Boy) |
| "Hide n' Seek" | 2022 | Stormzy |
| "Aboboyaa" | 2023 | Popcaan (feat. Burna Boy) |
| "Party Girls" | 2023 | Victoria Monét (feat. Buju Banton) |
| "My Love" | 2023 | Leigh-Anne (feat. Ayra Starr) |

## Commercials

| Title | Year | Brand(s) |
| "Cloth Surgeon" | 2016 | Complex & Selfridges |
| "Npango" | 2017 | Tigo Nipa |
| "S4" | 2018 | Infinix |
| "Fashion Week" | 2018 | GTB |
| "Beauty Launch Campaign" | 2019 | UOMA |
| "Autism: A Mother Knows" | 2019 | GTB |
| "Food & Drink" | 2019 | GTB |
| "Fashion Is Freedom " | 2019 | GTB |
| "No. 5" | 2019 | Infinix |
| "Black Shines Brightest" | 2021 | Guinness |
| "Never Stop Wishing" | 2021 | OREO |
| "Big Deals: Lunch" | 2022 | KFC |
| "Big Deals: Tuesday" | 2022 | KFC |
| "Training Wheels" | 2022 | Toyota |
| "Made to Move" | 2022 | Cadillac |
| "Yummy Snacks" | 2023 | Fanta |
| "Just Add Zero" | 2023 | Coca-Cola |

## Awards and nominations

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