Nigerian Director TG Omori Makes His Return with the Video for Seyi Vibez's “SHAOLIN”
The director remains as distinct as ever, helming his first music video after battling severe health issues last year.
A still from the TG Omori-directed video for Seyi Vibez’s “SHAOLIN”.
TG Omori, the inventive and prolific Nigerian music video director, has made his much-anticipated return with the video forSeyi Vibez’s “SHAOLIN.” Last August, Omori shared that he was receiving intensive treatments for acute kidney failure, revealing that he had a failed transplant.
“Yesterday, my only brother gave me one of his kidneys [sic] so I could live again,”he wrote in one of his X posts at the time. In subsequent days and a few other posts in the following months, Omori expressed his gratitude for the warm outpouring of well wishes for his health,declaring that he’ll “be back 2025 [sic]. Stay in love!”
In the middle of this month, Omorishared a picture of himself holding a camera and wearing a black face mask with the tag, “Let’s see if I can still rock this bitch.” Shortly after, hehinted at being the helmer of the music video for “SHAOLIN,” a rolling and thumping slapper off street-hop luminary Vibez’s latest EP,Children of Africa.
The video “SHAOLIN” continues Omori’s streak as an audacious auteur, particularly within the broader context of visuals in Nigerian music. Its touchstones are the post-apocalyptic action film franchise Mad Max and the sci-fi blockbuster series Dune, grounding those vivid, co-opted elements within sets that evoke a dystopic Lagos and the song’s energy as a rave anthem.
Seyi Vibez, ever the elastic experimentalist as far as his visual presentation, inhabits these varying sets with a trademark, punchy energy, from standing in a sand pit to floating around menacingly in front of a block of flats surrounded by powder-covered men.
“SHAOLIN” is the latest marker of the Seyi Vibez-TG Omori synergy that has evolved over the years, from the spiritually and personally meditative edge of“Dejavu” to the socially conscious tilt of last year’s“Lagos.”
“Glory be to God almighty who has heard my cry and given me the chance to touch the camera one more time,” Omoriwrote in an X post earlier today, celebrating his first directorial work since his health crisis. However, with “SHAOLIN” continuing his unique eye for colorful frenzy, calling this a comeback seems inappropriate—TG Omori remainsas distinct as ever.