Ice Prince - Aboki

What this video is

Released in August 2012 as the lead single heralding Ice Prince's second studio album Fire of Zamani, 'Aboki' (Hausa: 'friend') is an explicit celebration of prominent and successful figures from Northern Nigeria — a region often underrepresented in mainstream Afrobeats narratives dominated by Lagos and the South. The decision to shoot the music video in Los Angeles under Chocolate City Music reflects the label's…

Why it matters

A landmark example of early-2010s Afro-hip-hop's internationalisation, 'Aboki' demonstrates how Nigerian artists leveraged diaspora production infrastructure (LA-based directors, US shoot locations) to amplify pan-African cultural pride narratives. Its rapid-cut visual grammar and muted-warm…

The director

Phil Lee is a Los Angeles-based music video director active in the early 2010s, known for working with African and diaspora artists on internationally produced visual content. Directed the 'Aboki' video for Ice Prince in Los Angeles in 2012 under the…