The very best Nigerian video director is Wudi Awa. He's good with story telling, but the problem with him is the time he takes to edit. He works like an artist with his videos, and Nigerians simply don't have time for all that artistry. "No Be God" for Gino was the hiphop video that changed the way Nigerian music videos are made. Though some of us complained about Wudi Awa's colouring skills, he shut us up with "Kade" which he shot for Muma Gee, then went back to his ways with "Kolomental" for Faze.
NO BE GOD - Gino (2005)
KADE - Muma Gee (2006)
KOLOMENTAL - FAZE (2008)
DJ Tee can decide sometimes to come out with rubbish, and he'll absolutely do it. Still we mustn't forget, DJ Tee made the "Tongolo" video for D Banj which changed the way Nigerian Pop videos were made forever. Yet there are a lot of DJ Tee videos out there today which he cannot put his name on. His problem is that he has several major, high paying projects. DJ Tee is the best video colorist I know in Nigeria, but he has difficulties with his storyline, and also he could beat an artiste up during a video shoot if he's angered. He also didn't use to welcome ideas from the contributing musician. I don't know if that has changed. One thing we can agree on is that DJ Tee can be very good when he really loves your music, when his total workload is light, and when he wants to be.
TONGOLO (2005)
ESCALADE - Dare Art Alade (2007)
STYLEE - Jimmy Jatt, Tu Face, Mode 9, Ela Joe (2007)
E FIMILE - YQ & Da Grin (2008)
KAKO BI CHICKEN - Reminisce
Clarence Peters is the most popular video director. His advantage is that he's very efficient, especially with his project timing, but I wouldn't say he's all that. He's not much of a story teller either. FLASHING IMAGES which are a regular feature in most of his party jams are cool to look at, but may trigger CONVULSIONS in some individuals. Obago for Phyno is a good video though. Clarence really impressed me with that. But his previous works some of which have been big budget videos, haven't given proper account of his experience.
SHAYO - Durella (2008)
OCHANYA - Ayoola (2013)
OBAGO - Phyno (2013)
I don't know much about Patrick Elis, but his video I've seen are good. He does have a way with colours too, and he could be that all-round video producer Nigeria has been looking for, but he should do more. "Holla Your Boy" for Wizkid gave him instant street cred, and "Kukere" which he shot for Iyanya prove Mr Elis wasn't a fluke.
LABALABA - Samklef & Skales (2010)
HOLLA AT YOUR BOY - WizKid (2010)
KUKERE - Iyanya (2012)
My favourite video director is Lanre Tyson of M SQUAD. He's so ethical that he would not super-impose his his name on artistes video unless they request it. I find it strange that some artistes would ask a video director to super-impose his brand on their video, but then, I've heard one who went to the studio and recorded "Exclusive From NOTJUSTOK.COM". Well, M Squad took forever to decide to start claiming credits for their videos, and that really affected Lanre Tyson's reputation as a video director.
MAGIC - L.O.S ft Shank (2011)
INSANE GIRL - B Red ft Davido (2013)
Moe Musa is not such a good video director, but he's put in a nice attempt to use PR, and special offers to top Nigerian artistes to gain attention and acceptance. His videos are quite poor, and sort of similar for that matter: Plenty girls wearing pant and bra in a large space with the musician. I believe he has major plans to improve though. He has mentioned that much, and he seems determined enough to do it.
GO LOW - Wande Coal (2012)
AZONTO - WizKid (2013)
Sesan has been learning how to direct videos ever since I saw his first one, and watching what he recently did with "Finally" by D'Banj, his favourite guinea-pig, I realized he still has a long way to go. I try to excuse him with the fact that the Mo Hits gang have not been the most creative lyrically, but what he did with Tiwa Savage's "Love Me x3" was just wrong. Forgive me, I just can't give him credit for some of those other videos he shot in the USA, as I know about the anomaly of Nigerian directors paying off foreign directors for their hardwork in order to take credit.
SUDDENLY - D'Banj (2009)
GIVE IT TO ME - D Prince (2010)
FINALLY - D Banj (2013)
There are quite a lot of other video directors worthy of mention: Gbenga Salu, AJE Filmworks, Mex, and Akin Alabi, but to me, they're just there by the way. They have just one video worthy of mention,
For the record, Jude Okoye and GodFather are not video directors. What they do is hire the entire crew, director, and editor needed to make the video. then they pay them huge amounts to forfeit credit for all the work. I repeat: JUDE 'ENGEES' OKOYE IS NOT A MUSIC VIDEO DIRECTOR O!
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