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Burna Boy ft Stormzy 'Real Life’ by Meji Alabi

David Knight - 7th Oct 2020

Meji Alabi has directed several videos for Burna Boy, including some proper blockbusters. But have any been as powerful as this?

In visualising the sombre sentiments of the Stormzy-featured Real Life, Burna Boy gave Alabi licence to tell a story about the difficulties for Afro-Carribean people in London now. The result is a tour de force; a compelling mini-drama where the complexity of people's lives, navigating what is 'right' and 'wrong', is highlighted by the different routes taken by twin brothers, and a pointless murder. 

With a standout performances by Devontay and Dijon Graham as the brothers, Alabi creates a world on a West London estate populated with believable characters, sketched into life by his direction and Jaime Ackroyd's camera. Most painfully of all, Alabi stays firmly with the victim, as he dies alone. It is a departure for the director who has become one of the most adept at creating visually exciting pop videos, but a very confident and cinematic one.

Alabi even pauses the drama to allow a spoken word section, written and delivered by George The Poet, to add weight to the whole piece, that already includes strong performance elements from Burna Boy and Stormzy. Powerful indeed.

MEJI ALABI:

The blurred lines between road life vs real life... has lasting effects on friends, family, and the community in general.

"The story in this video really touches home for a lot of people. It explores the blurred lines between road life vs real life and how loss/murder - which I feel we’ve been someone desensitised to in the media - has lasting effects on friends, family, and the community in general. It’s a huge problem within Afro-Carribean communities in London, but the focus is rarely from the inside looking out. That’s what I wanted to express within this video. 

"You know a lot of London is being gentrified, and three estates I’ve shot on recently in West London are being demolished and turned into more high-end flats. We shot this on South Acton Estate and the wake scenes in the Working Men's Club which is part of the estate. Unfortunately, it’s the last shoot ever to take place there so I’m glad I got to capture this gem before it’s gone.

"We shot it over one and half days with Jaime Ackroyd absolutely nailing the feeling I wanted for the narrative scenes. We shot the Chronixx video together so really have a great understanding. Joel Honeywell also smashed it capturing the moody performance element on the half day with Burna and Stormzy in the little time we had them.

"The whole cast were absolutely amazing. Kharmel Cochrane is so good! I gotta shoutout Devontay and Dijon Graham who from the get-go understood the characters I needed them to embody and the emotions we were going for. We even linked up to shoot some small pickups in the park the day after the shoot.

"I’m blessed to have collaborated on some yet-to-be-released heat with George the Poet. So when this opportunity arose I knew he would understand the lifestyle and poignancy of what we needed to express during that breakdown. It was so casual: he pulled up at my house, I showed him my pre-assembly and the vibe and explained to him what I’d like us to say. And he delivered in literally a day in the most beautiful yet honest way. I was just blown away, and so was Burna when he heard it the first time. 

"Being based in West London really helped as well. It was really a community effort for me with a lot of friends and family filling in the wake scene. My friend's daughter was the little sister in the video - and it’s actually my daughter voice at the end of it too. It felt good shooting in fifteen minutes from my house too. I’m used to shooting in tropical locations, but it felt good to shoot close to home and tell a real story that can affect people lives positively and hopefully inspire a change in people's perceptions."

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David Knight - 7th Oct 2020

Tags

  • Director's notes
  • Drama
  • Narrative
  • Pick of the Day
  • Performance
  • Hip Hop
  • Afrobeat

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Credits

Production/Creative

Director
Meji Alabi
Producer
Matt Klemera
Co-Producer
Jimi Adesanya
Production Company
Executive Producer
Jimi Adesanya
Production Manager
Linah Bensadok
1st AD
Luke Goodrich

Camera

Director of Photography
Jaime Ackroyd
Focus Puller
Lawrence Beckwith
Steadicam
Gary Kent

Lighting/Grip

Gaffer
Ryan Monteith

Art

Art Director
James Middleton

Wardrobe

Wardrobe
Minna Attala
Make-up
Femi Konteh

Casting

Casting director
Kharmel Cochrane

Editorial

Editor
Paume
Editing company
Paume

Grading

Colourist
Tim Smith
Colour grade company

Commission

Commissioner
Shadeh Smith
Label
Atlantic Records

Misc

2nd Unit DoP
Joel Honeywell

Other credits

1st AC

Ciro Candia

Loader

Elisa Spigariol

Gaffer

Johnnie Besagni

Drone Op

Drone Capone

2nd AD

Dennis Nortey

MUA

Vaneza Londono

MUA Assistant

Emily

Directors Assistant

Mollana Burke

Directors Assistant

Jason Bent

DIT

Fatima Ouklilane

PA

Peter Famosa

Runner

Olivia Thurston

Runner

Ola Badmus

Catering

Mama Jay’s

Art Dept Assistants

Phoebe McElhatton & Destinie Paige

Location By Location Works!

Cast

Boys

Devontay Graham, Dijon Graham

Girlfriend

Rachel Banjo

Friend

Lashay Harvey

Mandem

Kamarni Peynado, Marcus Omoro, Kaylil Morris, D’Jon Mcternan

Good Friends

Tyrus Mckenzie, Zirihi Zadi

Mum

Veronica Alexander

Grandma

Olivette Cole Wilson

Neighbour

Akbar Merchant

Victim Kid

Brandon Howard

Killer

Joshua Okpala

Killers Friend

Hakim Touissaint

Sister

Janae Bent

Childs Voice

Esmé Alabi

David Knight - 7th Oct 2020

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