Akon Biography
Akon (born on October 14, 1981), is a Senegalese-American R&B singer, rapper, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. Akon rose to fame in 2004 following the release of his single "Lonely" from his debut album Trouble. His second album, Konvicted, earned him a Grammy Award nomination for the single "Smack That". Akon is the founder of both Konvict Muzik and Kon Live Distribution.
Biography
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Akon's often goes by the shorter, Aliaune Thiam, though other sources have
said his name is Alioune Badara Thiam. He is the son of jazz percussionist, Mor
Thiam. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri but grew up in Senegal until he was
seven. He split time between Senegal and the U.S. until he was fifteen, then his
family permanently moved to Jersey City, New Jersey and as such he speaks
English, French, and Wolof. In Jersey City he attended Snyder High School, where
he discovered hip hop music. His first song was entitled "Operations of Nature,"
which he recorded at age 15. However, he was jailed for armed robbery and drug
distribution charges, and used his time in prison to work on his music. Upon
release, Akon began writing and recording tracks in his home studio. The tapes
found their way to SRC/Universal, which released Akon's debut LP Trouble in June
2004. The album is a hybrid of Akon's silky, West African-styled vocals mixed
with East Coast and Southern beats.
Trouble (2004)Akon's solo debut album, Trouble was released on June 29, 2004. It
spawned the hit singles "Locked Up" and "Lonely," as well as "Belly Dancer (Bananza),"
"Pot Of Gold," and "Ghetto". Akon served a three-year jail sentence for grand
theft auto, an experience that inspired his "Locked Up". "Locked Up" reached the
top 10 in the U.S. and the top five in the UK. His manager Robert Montanez was
shot to death following a dispute in New Jersey in December 2005. "Ghetto"
became a radio hit when it was remixed by Green Lantern to include verses from
legendary rappers 2Pac and The Notorious B.I.G. 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 15 weeks. In 2005, Akon gained more
popularity after being featured on Young Jeezy's debut album, Let's Get It: Thug
Motivation 101, on the song "Soul Survivor" which became a top five hit on the
Billboard Hot 100.
Akon's sophomore album, entitled Konvicted, was released on November 14, 2006.
Konvicted included collaborations with Eminem, Snoop Dogg and Styles P. Late
August 2006, Akon released the single "Smack That" featuring Eminem, from the
album. This single peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 for five
consecutive weeks. The music video for "Smack That" was directed by Raymond
Garced. "I Wanna Love You", the second single off Konvicted, was released in
September 2006. It is a collaboration between Akon and Snoop Dogg. This single
earned 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, Akon released his third single "Don't Matter" which earned him his
first solo number one and second consecutive Hot 100 chart topper. So far, the
album has spawned three hit singles which have peaked within the top two of the
Billboard Hot 100. Konvicted debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, selling
286,000 copies in its first week. After only five 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 16 weeks it was
certified double platinum. Konvicted has continued to stay in the top twenty of
the Billboard 200 after 20 weeks, where it peaked at number two on four
different occasions. Currently it has sold more than 2.0 million records in the
U.S. and 2.7 million worldwide.
On the week of October 5, 2006, Akon broke a record on the Hot 100, as he
achieved the largest climb in the chart's 48-year-history with "Smack That"
jumping from number 95 to number seven. The song's monstrous leap is fueled by
its number six debut on Hot Digital Songs with 67,000 downloads sold. This
record was broken on April 7, 2007 by Beyoncé and Shakira's Beautiful Liar when
it jumped from 94 to three on the Hot 100, because of their 150,000 digital
downloads on the Hot Digital Songs.
In 2006, Akon started his new record label Kon Live Distribution under
Interscope Records. The first artist to sign was Chilli from TLC. Her debut solo
album Point of View will be released under Kon Live. Earl Ray has also been
signed to the label.
In December 2006, Akon's "Smack That" was nominated for Best Rap/Sung
Collaboration at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards, but lost to Justin Timberlake
and T.I.'s My Love..
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 both 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 Stefani's appearance as a coach the night
before. "The Sweet Escape" has reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100.
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Akon and Young Jeezy are doing collaborative album together. In 2006, after their 2005 Akon-produced single, "Soul Survivor", the duo said that there is a lot more to expect from them in the future. Jeezy has stated that the album will be somewhat similar to Jay-Z and R. Kelly's The Best of Both Worlds or Unfinished Business collaborative albums.
Akon is set to embark on a world tour in 2007. Starting in Africa, he'll swing through Europe and then to the United States. There is no word yet on supporting acts, but Akon said, "We'll probably get the hottest act in whatever region we're in." When asked about strong rumors that he'll be collaborating with Michael Jackson, Akon laughed, saying, "Right now that's in the air. I can't talk about it." He offers up the same laugh and vague response when queried about working on Elton John's next album. Akon was also effusive about another upcoming collaboration: Whitney Houston. "I'm working on more uptempo records for her," he says. "She's been through a lot and has a dark history. So we've got to make the album brighter because she's come out of the cave now. She wants a celebration. She needs to come back to the old Whitney we remember."
Akon is rumored to make an appearance on Papoose's major label debut album, The Nacirema Dream. Currently the track, "Go to War (Ghetto Soldier)" on which Akon is featured, is tentative. The Nacirema Dream is slated to be released March 2007.
Akon is scheduled to appear on Bone Thugs-N-Harmony's upcoming album Strength and Loyalty. He will be featured on the album's lead single entitled "I Tried", which will be released in February, 2007. The album will be released on April 17, 2007.
Not for Sale, Kardinal Offishall's fourth solo album, and his first as a member of Konvict Muzik, is scheduled for release in early 2007. The Toronto-based rapper's album will feature established artists such as Lil' Wayne, De La Soul, Clipse, Rihanna and Stat Quo. It is confirmed that Akon will be the executive producer of the album.
Three 6 Mafia's eight studio album, Da Last 2 Walk is expected to feature guest appearances by Akon in addition to appearances from T.I., Paul Wall, Lil' Scrappy, Young Buck and more. It will be released Spring 2007.
T.I.'s 5th album, T.I. vs. T.I.P., is scheduled for release in the summer of 2007. It will boast production from high profile producers such as Dr. Dre, Eminem, Lil Jon, Just Blaze, Timbaland, as well as Akon. Akon is also expected to make a guest appearance on the album.
We The Best is the upcoming sophomore album from DJ Khaled, scheduled for release in the summer of 2007. The lead single, "We Takin' Over" will feature T.I., Rick Ross, Fat Joe, Lil Wayne and Birdman as well as Akon.
Akon is rumored to be featured on Juvenile's upcoming album, entitled Diary of a Soulja. "The Verdict" and "I'm So Fly" are two tracks that Akon is featured on and may make the album. The album is scheduled to be released during the third quarter of 2007.
Epiphany, the sophomore album by T-Pain produced by Akon. The album is expected
to be released sometime 2007.
Upcoming Aftermath rapper, G.A.G.E. will release his debut solo album, The
Soundtrack To My Life sometime in 2007 and is expected to feature production
from Dr. Dre, Scott Storch, Cool & Dre and others. The album can expect to have
appearances from Akon, Busta Rhymes, The Game, Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross, T.I., and
many more.
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. He was also featured on a Verizon Wireless commercial.
In February 2007, Akon's 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, expensive denim jeans and other items.
He was born in St. Louis, Missouri instead of Senegal because his family didn't
want to have to go through immigration problems and so he and his siblings could
get a better education. He has been in jail for a total of five years. In late
2005, his manager Robert Montanez was killed in a drive by shooting, the album
Konvicted is dedicated to him. Akon was also in the car and was shot in the
shoulder, however he made a full recovery. He is a Muslim, and is a believer and
practitioner of Polygamy. This caused some amount of controversy when he first
disclosed it on a radio program saying, "I really don’t bite my tongue for
anybody and I always felt like if you’re going to be real, you got to be
truthful all the way around the board. Lies only make things worse. But it got
to a point where my coming out like that ended up being a mistake." He reportedly
has three wives. He drives an orange Lamborghini Gallardo. He also has his own
charity for underprivileged children in Africa called Konfidence Foundation.
Akon also owns a diamond mine in South Africa and denies the existence of
conflict diamonds saying, "I don't even believe in conflict diamonds. That's
just a movie. Think about it. Ain't nobody thought about nothing about no
conflict diamonds until the movie came out." He also had a previous occupation as
a drug dealer but states that he has never used drugs. He also said that in
spite of his previous criminal history, he has turned his life around, as sung
in "Tired Of Runnin'".
This Akon Biography Page is Copyright The Planets © 2004 - 2006 Chuck Ayoub