Ibra Ake
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Director
- Producer
- Photographer
Ibra Ake | |
|---|---|
| Citizenship | Nigerian American |
| Occupations |
|
| Relatives | Claude Ake (father) |
| Awards | Grammy Award for Best Music Video (2019) |
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, and director on Beyonce's visual album, Black is King. In 2019, he won a Grammy as a producer on Childish Gambino's music video, "This Is America".
Photography
Ibra Ake started off as a portrait and fashion photographer, shooting for various Condé Nast publications, beauty brands, and music acts.[1][2]
Childish Gambino
Through photography Ake met Donald Glover at a time when Glover was still a rising musician under the name Childish Gambino.[3] After becoming friends, they started to share ideas and Ake became Glover's creative director.[3] 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.[3] Ake has served as creative director for almost all of Childish Gambino's albums and tours.[4][5]
Atlanta
Ake has written numerous episodes for the first three seasons of the Emmy Award–winning series Atlanta.[6] He also directed an episode from season three, "White Fashion," and has also guided the show's marketing outreach.[4][7]
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.[8][9]
In 2020, he directed and consulted on Beyonce's visual album, Black is King, specifically the videos for "Brown Skin Girl", "Water," and "Keys to the Kingdom."[10][11][12]
Television
Ake wrote and directed an episode of the TV series, Swarm.
Other
Notable creative direction projects include: Tiwa Savage's 49-99;[13] Spotify's RapCaviar Pantheon;[14] Adidas, Donald Glover Presents;[15] Pause with Sam Jay;[16] Saturday Night Live; and Pharos.[17]