Akon often sings
hooks for other artists and is currently credited with over 300 guest appearances and more than 35
Billboard Hot 100 songs. He has worked with numerous performers such as
Michael Jackson,
Quincy Jones,
Eminem,
Whitney Houston,
Lil Wayne,
50 Cent,
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony,
Gwen Stefani,
Snoop Dogg and many more artists. He has had five
Grammy Awards nominations and has produced many hits for artists such as
Lady Gaga,
Colby O'Donis,
Kardinal Offishall and
Leona Lewis.
Lady Gaga and
T-Pain are two artists who were given their chance at fame by Akon.
According to
Forbes, Akon grossed $13 million in 2011, $21 million in 2010, $20 million in 2009 and $12 million in 2008. Forbes ranked Akon 80th (Power Rank) in
Forbes Celebrity 100; in 2010
[3] and 5th in 40 Most Powerful Celebrities in Africa list; in 2011.
[4] Billboard ranked Akon No. 6 on the list of Top Digital Songs Artists of the decade.
[5]
Early life
Akon was born in
St. Louis, Missouri, and spent much of his childhood in the West African country
Senegal, which he describes as his "hometown." The child of a dancer mother and a renowned percussionist father, Mor Thiam, Akon learned to play five instruments, including drums and guitar and
djembe.
[6] At age 7, he moved with his family to
Union City, New Jersey,
[7] splitting his time between the United States and Senegal until settling in
Newark, New Jersey.
[6] Growing up in New Jersey, Akon had difficulties getting along with other children. When he and his older brother reached high school, his parents left them on their own in
Jersey City and moved the rest of the family to
Atlanta, Georgia.
[8]
Music career
2003–05: Discovery and Trouble
Akon's alleged three years in jail saw him begin to recognize his music abilities and develop an appreciation for his musical background. Music mogul Devyne Stephens, president of Upfront Megatainment first heard about Akon when the rapper
Lil' Zanebrought him along to Stephens' rehearsal hall, a place that at the time saw talents such as
Usher and
TLC being developed.
[9] The relationship between Stephens and Akon began as a friendship and
mentorship, with the young artist regularly stopping by to ask for advice, but when Akon lost his deal with Elektra Stephens signed him to his production company and began grooming him professionally.
[9][10] The songs Akon recorded with Stephens were brought to the attention of
Universal's imprint
SRC Records.
[10] In an interview with
HitQuarters SRC A&R
Jerome Foster said, "What caught my attention right away was "Lonely", and I said, 'this kid is official – this is a huge record."
[10] Foster and SRC CEO Steve Rifkind immediately boarded a private plane to Atlanta to meet the young artist.
[10] Akon knew of Foster's work as producer
Knobody and so there was a mutual respect for one another and the pair hit it off.
[10]
Akon's solo debut album,
Trouble was released on June 29, 2004. It spawned the singles "
Locked Up" and "
Lonely", "
Belly Dancer (Bananza)", "
Pot Of Gold", and "
Ghetto." "Locked Up" reached 8th position in the U.S. and 5th in the UK. "Ghetto" became a radio hit when it was
remixed by
DJ Green Lantern to include verses from rappers
2Pac and
The Notorious B.I.G. The album is a hybrid of Akon's silky, West African-styled vocals mixed with East Coast and Southern beats. Most of Akon's songs begin with the sound of the clank of a jail cell's door with him uttering the word "Konvict".
[11]
In 2005, he released the single "Lonely" (which samples
Bobby Vinton's "
Mr. Lonely"). The song reached the top five on the
Billboard Hot 100, and topped the charts in Australia, the UK and Germany. His album also climbed to number one in the UK in April 2005. When music channel
The Box had a top ten weekly chart, which was calculated by the amount of video requests, Akon's "Lonely" became the longest running single on the top of the chart, spanning over fifteen weeks. Akon then released another single featuring with a New Zealand rapper,
Savage with the single
Moonshine, which had become a success in both New Zealand and Australia, becoming number one in the New Zealand charts. In 2005, He made his first critically acclaimed guest appearance on
Young Jeezy's debut album,
Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101, with the song "
Soul Survivor." In December the same year his manager, Robert Montanez was killed in a shooting after a dispute in
New Jersey.
2006–07: Konvicted
Akon performing with Gwen Stefani on The Sweet Escape Tour.
Akon's second album,
Konvicted was released on November 14, 2006. It included collaborations with
Eminem,
Snoop Dogg and
Styles P. The first single "
Smack That" featuring Eminem was released in August 2006 and peaked at number two on the
BillboardHot 100 for five consecutive weeks. "
I Wanna Love You," (featuring
Snoop Dogg) was the second single released in September, it would go on to earn Akon his first number-one single on the
Billboard Hot 100, and Snoop's second. "I Wanna Love You" topped the U.S. charts for two consecutive weeks. In January 2007, a third single "
Don't Matter" which earned him his first solo number one and second consecutive Hot 100 chart topper was released. "
Mama Africa" was released as a European single in July 2007, making it the fourth overall single from the album reaching just 47 in the UK.
To coincide with the release of the Platinum (deluxe) edition of the album "
Sorry, Blame It on Me" was the album's fifth single, debuted in August 2007 on the Hot 100 at number seven. The deluxe version was fully released on August 28, 2007. The final single was confirmed by Akon to be "
Never Took the Time."
[12]Konvicted debuted at number two on the
Billboard 200, selling 286,000 copies in its first week. After only six weeks,
Konvicted sold more than one million records in the U.S. and more than 1.3 million worldwide. The album was certified platinum after seven weeks, and after sixteen weeks it was certified double platinum. It stayed in the top twenty of the
Billboard 200 for 28 consecutive weeks and peaked at number two on four different occasions. On November 20, 2007, the RIAA certified the album ‘triple platinum’ with 3 million units sold in the US. It has sold more than 5 million copies worldwide.
[citation needed] He has achieved gold and platinum certifications in twenty-three countries with the album .
When asked by an interviewer on MSN.com in October 2007 what his fans could expect in the future, Akon responded, "Just expect the unexpected.The fans can definitely know that I'm gonna always come a whole new way of how they saw me last And that's always been my goal—to kind of surprise them and come from a blindside angle because that's how you keep the excitement going about you. You always want to do something they would never expect you to do, and then when you do it, you do it well.
[13] "
2008–09: Freedom
Speaking of his relationship with Michael Jackson to noted UK R&B writer Pete Lewis of the award-winning 'Blues & Soul' in October 2008, Akon stated: "Mike is the King Of Pop, and I think that it's a dream come true for ANY major artist/songwriter/producer to be able to work with the best in the business! You know, to work with someone like Mike – who's created opportunities, opened doors for so many people, and achieved so much in the music world, period – is just an experience which would be enough to take home for ANYONE! I mean, when I first flew up to Vegas and met him it was almost like we'd known each other for YEARS! LITERALLY! 'Cause musically we were on the same exact page! The chemistry was just INCREDIBLE! And, as a person, he was the most cool, humble dude I've ever met! I mean, we even actually got to go to the movies together – in broad daylight! Which was an experience in itself!"
[14] Freedom was certified platinum in US and achieved gold and platinum certifications in many countries .
David Guetta collaborated with Akon in "
Sexy Bitch", a first
house track by Akon, and has been a "summer anthem" across the globe. Reaching No. 1 in more than 6 countries, and charting at 5 on the
Billboard Hot 100, it is featured on Guetta's
One Lovealbum. It is Akon's 19th Top 20 hit worldwide.
2010–present: Stadium
The album's lead single, "
Angel", was released to US radio stations on September 14, 2010,
[15] and was released as a single on September 27, 2010. It was produced by French producer
David Guetta. Akon performed the song during the 2010
Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.
[16] Akon travelled to Jamaica to work with Damian, Julian & Stephen Marley.
[17] Stadium will be released on September 11, 2012.
[18]
Featured projects
- In 2006, Akon started his new record label Kon Live Distribution under Interscope Records. His first signed artist was Ray Lavender.
- He was featured on Gwen Stefani's latest album, The Sweet Escape. He made an appearance on the title track and second single, "The Sweet Escape." Akon produced the song. On December 10, 2006, Akon and Stefani appeared as musical guests on Saturday Night Live, however they did not perform the song as Stefani had not yet learned the lyrics. He performed the song live, however, on American Idol on March 28, 2007 due to Gwen Stefani's appearance as a coach the night before. "The Sweet Escape" has reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
- Akon collaborated with Chamillionaire on his mixtape, Mixtape Messiah 2, featuring on the track “Ridin' Overseas” which he also produced. The mixtape was available for download on Chamillionaire's website from December 24, 2006.
- In 2006, after their 2005 Akon-produced single, "Soul Survivor," the duo of Akon and Young Jeezy said that there is a lot more to expect from them in the future. The pair announced there are currently plans for a collaborative album.[19][20]
- Akon also appeared on Bone Thugs-n-Harmony's album Strength and Loyalty and Three 6 Mafia's eighth studio album, Last 2 Walk, We The Best by DJ Khaled, Fabolous's album, From Nothin' to Somethin', with 50 Cent on some tracks for Curtis,[21]T.I.'s 5th album, T.I. vs. T.I.P.,[22] Mario's third solo album Go!,[23] and produced with Daddy Yankee" in the song called "Bring It On" on the album called El Cartel: The Big Boss which was released on June 5, 2007.[24]
- On July 7, 2007 Akon performed at the American leg of Live Earth.
- In November 2007, Akon recorded a remix of "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" with Michael Jackson. In February 2008, the remix was released on the 25th anniversary rerelease of Michael Jackson's Thriller. Akon produced the track entitled "Echo" on Latin Boy band Menudo's latest album, released in the spring of 2008.
- ‘Konvict Music’ would be responsible for the re-release of Kat Deluna’s debut album 9 Lives (album) which would feature Akon on the single "Am I Dreaming."
- In July 2008 a song called "Hold My Hand" circulated the internet. The song is an R&B duet/collaboration between Michael Jackson and Akon, composed by Claude Kelly. There also exists another version featuring only Akon. It was not included in the track list for Freedom as Akon previously stated. During an interview with Tavis Smiley, Akon said that Jackson had planned on a high-profile release including a music video until the track had leaked. This is Jackson's last known song before he died on June 25, 2009. Recently[when?], Akon has finished work on the song and it will included on the upcoming posthumous album, Michael. The song itself was released as a single on November 15, 2010.
- Akon was also the executive producer of Kardinal Offishall's fourth solo album Not 4 Sale, released September 9, 2008. The promo single "Graveyard Shift" features Akon as does the first single "Dangerous", which peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, and won the award for Single of the Year at the 2009 Juno Awards.
- Akon co-wrote and recorded "Put It on My Tab" with New Kids on the Block for their 2008 reunion album The Block.[25]
- Akon co-wrote and produced Leona Lewis' hit record Forgive Me, off her debut album Spirit.
- He is currently working with X Factor 2008 winner Alexandra Burke on her upcoming debut album.
- Akon co-wrote Kon Live artist Lady Gaga's worldwide hit "Just Dance", which also featured Colby O'Donis, and which earned a Grammy nomination for Best Dance Recording at the 51st Grammy Awards.
- Flo Rida’s new album R.O.O.T.S. features Akon on the track “Available”.
- Akon has recorded a song with E-40 titled "Wake It Up" for E-40's album, The Ball Street Journal. Akon experiments with theauto-tune effect in the song.
- Rap singer Nelly confirmed that Akon, Pharrell, and T-Pain have talked about forming a rap supergroup in 2009.[26]
- Akon and Konvict Muzik are also producing hip hop/rock group Flipsyde's 2009 release, State of Survival, which will be released via Kon Live Distribution and Cherrytree Records.[27]
- Akon worked with Whitney Houston for her 2009 comeback album I Look to You. He appears on the track "Like I Never Left".[28]
- IsThereSomethingICanDo.com, launched On March 25, 2009, The social action collaboration project between the artists Peter Buffett and Akon has partnered with DoSomething.org, to coincide with the release of "Blood Into Gold". The song focused on human trafficking and featured both artists.[29]
- In May 2009, Akon collaborated with Taiwanese artist 潘瑋柏 (Wilber Pan) and released another version of the song, Be With You.
- Akon worked with bachata group Aventura and Reggaeton duo Wisin & Yandel on All Up 2 You the second single from Aventura's album The Last that dropped in June. The song received two nominations at the Premios Lo Nuestro 2010 for "Urban Song of the Year" and "Video Collaboration of the Year".
- Akon recently[when?] signed Jayko, a Hispanic R&B and Reggaeton artist, to his label and is working with him on his debut album titled "Marcando Territorio"
- Sexy Bitch was released in July 2009, a collaboration with French DJ David Guetta.
- In August 2009, Akon released another version of Beautiful featuring BoA, a popular and legendary Korean singer. However, this version was for the Japanese market.
- Akon also sang in a song with Colby O'Donis called "What You Got".
- In 2009 Akon collaborated with Pitbull on the single "Shut It Down" from the album "Rebelution".
- Akon worked to help Matisyahu remix his single "One Day" on his album Light.[30]
- In 2010 Akon collaborated with up and coming pop singer JRandall on a song entitled oo la la" which premiered on JustJared.com on October 6.
- In 2010 he is one of over 70 artists singing on "We Are the World: 25 for Haiti", a charity single in aid of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
- He also entered into the Indian market, working with composers Vishal-Shekhar on the soundtrack to the Bollywood action filmRa.One. The first song "Chammak Challo" has been released on YouTube[31] where he sings in the Indian language Hindi.[32][33]He also sang another song called "Criminal" for the film.
- Akon co-produced Natalia Kills' first single, "Mirrors", from her forthcoming debut album, Perfectionist.
- Akon, the internationally known R&B artist, recorded a song for No Labels which is now used as the organization's anthem.
- In 2010, Akon collaborated with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg on "Kush", the intended first single from Dr. Dre's forthcoming albumDetox however the album's release remains up for discussion and "Kush" and "I Need a Doctor" were removed from the album.
- in 2011 Akon signed singer/songwriter Jeffree Star & produced his first single, Prom Night!, from his forthcoming album Virginity.
- Akon collaborated with music director duo Vishal-Shekhar and sung a song "Chammak Challo" as a part of the soundtrack for the 2011 Bollywood film Ra.One. Akon received a nomination for Best Playback Singer (male) at the 2012 Filmfare Awards for song "Chammak Challo".
Other ventures
Television and film
Akon has confirmed that a reality television show is in the works. It will be called "My Brother's Keeper" and the point is that Akon's two nearly identical brothers will go around in Atlanta posing as him fooling people into thinking that it is in fact Akon. They will try to get VIP treatment, girls and free things. Akon has claimed that people have mistaken his brothers for him many times in Atlanta which is what the show is based on.
[34]
Akon is planning to work on a full-length movie titled
Illegal Alien. The film is based on some of the events of his life and actor
Mekhi Phifer is set to play him. Besides Akon confirmed in August 2007, in the interview with Polish website INTERIA.PL, that he works on a movie "Cocaine Cowboys," which tells the story of Jon Roberts, the main pilot of Medellin Cartel (Colombian drug traffickers).
[35]He was also featured on a
Verizon Wireless commercial and singing
Snitch along with
Obie Trice on a
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode named "Poppin' Tags."
On November 30, 2007, Akon entered the Big Brother house in
Pinoy Big Brother Celebrity Edition 2 as a guest so the housemates can meet him for only 100 seconds. He also appeared on November 17, 2008 edition of
WWE Raw, with
Santino Marella citing him in his speech. Because of Santino's Italian Stereotyping, he mispronounced Akon's name to "Akorn".
Fashion
In February 2007, Akon launched his clothing line,
Konvict Clothing. It features urban streetwear including denim jeans, hoodies, t-shirts and hats.
Aliaune is the upscale version, or high-end line, for males and females, which includes blazers, denim jeans and other items. Timothy Hodge appeared on MTV's Direct Effect alongside Akon while promotioning the Konvict clothing line.
[37]
Personal life
Akon claims he has six children with three different women in an interview with
Blender.
[38] Akon claims to have great relationships with all his children, and that he wishes to keep his family protected from the public eye. He also states that his religion made him a better person, and provides guidance to how he acts among others in life.
[39]
He also has his own charity for underprivileged children in Africa called Konfidence Foundation.
[40] Akon owns a diamond mine in South Africa and denies the existence of
blood diamonds (also known as "conflict diamonds") saying, "I don't believe in conflict diamonds. That's just a movie. Think about it. Nobody thought or cared about conflict diamonds until '
Blood Diamond' was released."
[41] However, he has since stated that he does accept that blood diamonds exist, and that he is partial-owner of an African mine that is dedicated to avoiding use of blood diamonds while also donating profits to local communities.
[42]
"
The Smoking Gun" reported in April 2008 that much of Akon's purported criminal and incarceration history has been dramatically embellished.
[43][44][45] In particular, Akon's claims to be part of an auto-theft ring and his claim to have spent three years in prison were challenged with court records and interviews with detectives involved in Akon's case. According to "The Smoking Gun's" article, Akon was not convicted of any crime and did not serve any time in prison from 1999 to 2002 as previously claimed. He stated that "The Smoking Gun's" attempt to “discredit” him “makes no sense as it is something he is trying to forget.” Akon retorted that he never spent 3 years in prison consecutively, but many shorter sentences that add up to three years, and cites that as the mis-understanding by The Smoking Gun's article.
[46]
Legal difficulties
In April 2007, Akon drew criticism for an onstage act which included simulated sex with a 15-year-old girl, at a club in
Trinidad and Tobago, as part of a fake contest, despite the club's claim to have a 21 years and over age limit.
[47][48] The incident was filmed by Akon's crew and later uploaded to the Internet. On April 20, 2007 local media, channel
TV6, aired the video clip publicly. Amid criticism on the radio, television, and from the
blogosphere,
Verizon Wireless removed ringtones featuring Akon's songs. Verizon also decided not to sponsor
The Sweet Escape Tour where Akon was to be the opening act for
Gwen Stefani.
[49] However,
Universal Music Group did not take action against Akon, but rather simply ordered the video clip be removed from video-sharing site YouTube due to
copyright infringement. Conservative commentator and
Parents Television Council founder
Brent Bozell called this "corporate irresponsibility."
[50]
On June 3, 2007, at
WSPK's
KFEST concert at the
Dutchess Stadium in
Fishkill, New York, a concert attendee threw an object towards Akon on stage. Akon asked the crowd to identify who threw the object and that he be brought on stage. Security staff grabbed the young man and took him up to the stage. Akon then pulled him up from the crowd and hoisted him across his shoulders. The singer then tossed the attendee back into the crowd from his shoulders. Video of the incident was reviewed by Fishkill police.
[55] Akon has claimed that the incident was staged and that he in fact used the act to set up for the next record.
[34]Charges of endangering the welfare of a minor, a misdemeanor, and second-degree harassment, a violation, were filed, according to police Chief Donald F. Williams, and Akon was arraigned on the two charges on December 3, 2007 in the town of Fishkill Court.
[56]
Visa issue
March 23, 2010 – Considering the allegations against Akon, the Sri Lankan Government has decided not to issue him a visa to enter into Sri Lanka. The Jathika Bhikku Sansadaya (National Monks' Association) said that they vehemently protested the planned concert claiming his music video for Sexy Chick insulted Buddhism.
| Akon |
|---|
Akon arrives in Mumbai for Ra.One recording |
| Background information |
|---|
| Birth name | Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam |
|---|
| Born | April 16, 1973 (age 39)
St. Louis, Missouri, United States |
|---|
| Origin | Dakar, Senegal |
|---|
| Genres | R&B, hip hop, reggae, pop |
|---|
| Occupations | Singer, songwriter, record producer, entrepreneur,philanthropist, businessman |
|---|
| Years active | 1996–present |
|---|
| Labels | Konvict Muzik, Kon Live Distribution, Universal, SRC,UpFront |
|---|
| Associated acts | Eminem, Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga, Snoop Dogg, David Guetta, Lil Wayne, Young Jeezy, Gwen Stefani, Dr. Dre,Pitbull, T-Pain, The Lonely Island |
|---|
| Website | akon.com |
|---|
