In a new episode of CNN’s African Voices, Larry Madowo sits down with Nigerian music video director, filmmaker, and creative executive Director Pink.
Born Praise Onyeagwalam, Director Pink is known for her visually bold, culture-driven work in the Afrobeats scene as one of the prominent female directors shaping Nigeria’s contemporary music visuals. She tells Madowo, “When you're at the point where a lot of people look up to you, you then realise that it is left to me to actually shape the way people see Afrobeats music videos.”
Director Pink is a multi-hyphenate who has worked across many different roles. She says this prepared her well for directing, “I think every single thing that I've done and every single thing that I've been, has shaped me into that word, a director. Because being a director you need to understand almost every aspect of the field. I could make credible inputs if I'm having a film that has animations into it. I could make credible inputs in the graphics of the film, maybe the opener, the text, the font, like I'm already so soaked in it, so I really understand what I want.”
Madowo asks Director Pink what makes Afrobeats music videos unique, she responds, “I would say for me it's always the dance. The music in itself influences every single thing you really want to put into it, but mostly it's actually the infusion of the dance. It’s the infusion of the type of colours that you really want to see in the video to actually tell the story.”
In the streaming era, many artists are putting less relevance on music videos. Director Pink argues that the artform is still important, “Right now I would say that there's been a whole trend of short form videos because of attention span and all that. But it then gives us so much more work on our hands to actually get more creative. Because I feel like another thing is the creativity, because when you see a very creative music video you're like, you know what, I really want to watch it. Because music videos, they take time to develop from the ideation from really bringing out the artist in their best performance capabilities and all that.”
At the 2025 Headies Awards, Director Pink became the first woman to win the Music Video of the Year Award. She talks about this accolade, “That is always the most anticipated awards like every year. So, I had been nominated actually twice and also being the first woman to win the award in that category. It was almost like it opened the doors for so many other women to really see that they could really do this. And that is what I'm up for and what I'm after, showing women that look, you can be more, you can do more, you don't have to just stick in a box, you can really be whatever you want to be no matter what.”
Director Pink has made videos for major artists including Burna Boy, Wizkid, Phyno, Chike, and Timaya. She talks to Madowo about working with big stars, “I don't feel intimidated. I feel grateful. Like, oh, these are people that I would watch on the screen when I was young. And these are people that I am actually talking to and we're thinking and we're creating. I don't think it would have really happened in my wildest of my wild dreams.”
The creative executive is now giving opportunities to other young people through her academy Pink Line Academy and Pink Line Films, “I saw that there was really no young women in the field, especially our age brackets. And it was really sad to see, but it didn't really stop me to thrive and really put my name on that. And then seeing that I'm like, I really need to see how we could create opportunities for the next generation, people really understanding the craft because we didn't really have those tutorials a whole lot. A lot of us really depended on so many YouTube tutorials. So, for now, Pink Line Academy is really bringing out the next generation of creatives across Africa.
She continues, “We're also trying to give 10 African students sponsorship and scholarship into the academy as well. So yes, it's just a thing that I just saw there's a gap, with bringing creatives together and creatives assessing opportunities and we're really trying to be the bridge between that gap.”
When asked about her favourite video, Director Pink says, “I always make sure that my next video is my favourite video. My next video is my best video. I always make sure I challenge myself every single time because I'm very daring, so I'm like, the next video has to be better than the last one because that's the only way you grow.”
Finally, Director Pink concludes by looking ahead to her future, “I think I want to be remembered for my impact. Because you only leave a legacy by how you impact other people's lives. So, yes, that's the kind of legacy I want to leave, you know, the various ways I have impacted people's life and how people have grown through me and I know that Pink Line is going to grow more.”
African Voices airs on CNN International at the following times:
- Tuesday 16th June 2026 at 17:45 WAT
- Saturday 20th June 2026 at 07:30 WAT and 11:00 WAT
- Sunday 21st June 2026 at 03:30 WAT and 18:00 WAT
- Monday 22nd June 2026 at 03:00 WAT