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Akon

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Akon (born Aliaune Akon Thiam in Dakar, Senegal on October 14, 1981) is a rapper who grew up in Senegal for the first seven years of his life, and from the age of seven he lived in Union City, New Jersey, USA. He is a Muslim, and the son of jazz percussionist Mor Thiam. He is one of the few hip-hop artists who sings his rhymes instead of simply speaking them.

Akon

Akon released his debut album Trouble in 2004, which included the singles "Locked Up (Remix)" (featuring Styles P), "Lonely", "Bananza (Belly Dancer)", "Pot Of Gold" and "Ghetto". "Locked Up" reached the top 10 in the U.S. and the top 5 in the UK, and was written after Akon was jailed for three years for armed robbery. His road manager Robert “Screw” Montanez was gunned to death following a dispute in New Jersey in December 2005. "Ghetto" became a radio hit when it was remixed to include verses from legendary rappers Notorious B.I.G. and 2Pac. In 2005, he released the single "Lonely" (which samples Bobby Vinton's "Mr. Lonely"). The song reached the top 10 on the U.S. charts, and was #1 in Australia, the UK and Germany. His album also climbed to #1 in the UK in April, 2005. Recently, he gained more popularity after being featured in the song "Soul Survivor" with rapper Young Jeezy. He also has his own record label, called Konvict Muzik. Chilli from TLC recently signed with Konvict to release her debut album executive produced by Missy Elliott. Chilli and Akon have recently finished working on 4 new tracks for Chilli's debut solo album due sometime between Fall 2006 and early 2007.

Akon's upcoming sophomore album, entitled Konvicted, is scheduled to be released on December 12, 2006 [1]. Konvicted will also include collaborations with Snoop Dogg and Styles P. Late August 2006, Akon released the single "Smack That" featuring Eminem from the upcoming album, as well as a notable new track featuring Styles P, "All My Life," released on a mixtape. The video for "Smack That" will be directed by Benny Boom.

Discography

Studio Albums

Album cover Album information
File:TroubleCover.jpg
 Trouble
 
 Konvicted

Singles

Year Title Chart Positions Album
US Hot 100 UK Singles AUS Singles
2004 "Locked Up" #8 #5 #33 Trouble
2005 "Ghetto Remix" (Ali B & Yes-R featuring Akon) #92 - - Trouble
2005 "Lonely" #4 #1 #1 Trouble
2005 "Big Dog" #100 #92 #0 The Shaggy Dog
2005 "Bananza (Belly Dancer)" #30 #5 #23 Trouble
2005 "Pot Of Gold" - #77 - Trouble
2005 "Baby I'm Back" (Baby Bash featuring Akon) #19 - - Super Saucy
2005 "Soul Survivor" (Young Jeezy featuring Akon) #4 #16 - Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101
2005 "Can You Believe It?" (Styles P featuring Akon) - - - Time is Money
2005 "Moonshine" (Savage featuring Akon) - - #9 Moonshine
2005 "Stay Down" (Ruff Ryders featuring Flashy & Akon) - - - Redemption: Volume 4
2006 "Snitch" (Obie Trice featuring Akon) - - #39 2nd Rounds On Me
2006 "I Am Not My Hair (Konvict Remix)" (India Arie featuring Akon) - - - I Am Not My Hair: The Remixes
2006 "Gangsta Bop" (Released in July 2006) - - - Konvicted
2006 "Smack That" (featuring Eminem) - - - Konvicted

Music Videography

Guest Appearances

Video Project

Akon is also planning to work on a full-length movie about his life. The title has been confirmed as "Money, Power, Respect: A Hustler's Dream", and the release date will be in late 2007.

Trivia

  • 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. It was finally beaten by James Blunt's "You're Beautiful".

Footnotes

Note: All citations to magazine articles lead to a website where scans of these magazines can be viewed free of charge

  1. ^ "Akon Corrals Eminem, Snoop For New Album". Retrieved August 28. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
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