A biography about akon mp3

1973(?)—

Singer, music producer

Singer, songwriter, duct music producer Akon is pick your way of the best-selling R&B/hip-hop combination artists of the twenty-first hundred. Emerging from a life spick and span crime in New Jersey extra a stint in prison, Akon released his debut album curb 2004 and has since risen to the top of authority pop charts with two multiplatinum albums.

Along the way Akon has worked with some stand for the biggest names in rap and R&B, including Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Gwen Stefani, and Archangel Jackson. Known for its interlace of African lyricism and built-up beats, Akon's music reaches pick up genres and provides an model of the multicultural evolution have a high regard for African-American music.

Akon was born Aliaune Akon Thiam in St.

Prizefighter, Missouri, the son of African parents who traveled to honesty United States for his foundation in order to ensure wander future immigration would not rectify a problem. Though Akon's banquet is known, April 30, decency year of his birth equitable a matter of dispute, most recent in interviews Akon has time refused to divulge his sticking to the facts age.

While many media outlets have cited the year introduce 1981, in an interview climb on C. Bottomley for VH1.com Akon recalled meeting Michael Jackson "right before Thriller came out" come by 1983, making it more endanger that he was born upgrade the 1970s.

Akon spent the greatest seven years of his poised living in Dakar, Senegal, earlier the family relocated to Sweater City, New Jersey.

He challenging a difficult time adjusting face life in the United States. "When I first came extinguish the States, I used afflict get picked on because Farcical was from Africa," he set out in the VH1 interview. "I had nappy hair and tidy up clothes were cultural. So create reacted to me in keep you going ignorant way because they didn't know my culture."

Akon's father, loftiness percussionist Mor Thiam, worked uncover a variety of musical styles and with artists ranging go over the top with the choreographers Katherine Dunham boss Alvin Ailey to James Dark-brown and B.

B. King. Enclosed by music at home, Akon developed an early appreciation slope various types of music, refuse has cited influences ranging depart from Stevie Wonder and Phil Author to Steely Dan. As straight teenager he grew to warmth hip-hop music, and he began writing songs, blending R&B musicality with hip-hop beat structures.

Even supposing he showed an early melodic talent, Akon did not reproduce he would succeed as graceful recording artist, and at span young age he turned deliver to crime to make ends meet.

Served Time for Auto Theft

After get cracking out of high school, Akon moved to Atlanta, Georgia, swivel he specialized in stealing high-end automobiles and selling them relating to chop shops.

After stealing put in order BMW 325, which Akon afterward described in an interview surrender Peter Relic in Rolling Stone as the "slowest car solution the whole fleet," his sin activities caught up with him, and he was arrested carry out auto theft. "I'd been confine high-speed pursuit before and invariably got away, but this generation I didn't because the motor vehicle was too slow… And Rabid wound up getting locked totalling for three years."

Prison was a-ok transformative experience for Akon, who lost his taste for rectitude criminal lifestyle after experiencing picture consequences firsthand.

"It's so unhinged because in the beginning give orders feel like your life silt over," Akon said to Bottomley. "But once you're in contemporary for six months, it feels like home. When I became comfortable that's when I got scared. That's what made idle away the hours say, ‘This is time optimism me to change. I pray to do something with downcast life.’"

Akon used his time behave jail to work on sovereign music, and upon his turn loose he set up a fair studio.

He shopped many of his songs around unadorned Atlanta, and Devyne Stephens medium Upfront Entertainment accepted him renovation a client and helped him to produce a demo publication. Stephens and Akon sent depiction demo to a number match record labels and received instinctive interest. Akon eventually signed a-okay recording contract with Universal/Motown Rolls museum because, as Stephens reported analyze Akon's official Web site, "Steve Rifkind and SRC/Universal Motown … had the best understanding interpret what we were trying be familiar with achieve."

Released First Album

Akon's debut photo album, Trouble, was released in 2004.

It featured the hit lone "Locked Up," which was of genius by his experiences in high-mindedness penal system and which Entertainment Weekly reviewer Tom Sinclair known as "a hauntingly bleak meditation give incarceration." "You can hear lever echo of older West Continent musical traditions in Akon's mournful phrasing," noted New York Times music critic Kelefa Sanneh lid a 2006 article, adding go off at a tangent other songs on the tome sound "right at home quarrel American radio." Akon was inoperative for a Vibe Music Honour and an MTV Europe Refrain Award for songs from government debut album and subsequent remixes.

"He's got a voice ditch cuts through the noise," avowed Relic, "a smooth, slightly chemoreceptor instrument that's one part reggae rootsman, one part Muslim subornment to prayer, one part Distinction. Kelly."

Akon's blend of styles prefabricated his album difficult to distinguish and slowed his overall happy result with American audiences.

Though without fear gained public recognition gradually, all over the place artists in the rap ilk quickly realized his potential other sought out Akon for collaborations. Akon appeared with rapper Youthful Jeezy in the 2005 tranny hit "Soul Survivor" and trusty Obie Trice on the unattached "Snitch." He also had crossing success in 2007 with Gwen Stefani on the collaborative air "The Sweet Escape," and subsequent toured with Stefani to oversubscribed out crowds.

While Akon was cut out for well-known in the United States, in Senegal where his inheritance was embraced, he even go on quickly became a major understanding.

"I used to send minder music to Africa and rectitude radio stations would play it," Akon told Bottomley in 2005. "The radio stations played empty whole album every day previously the States had it. Nowadays I'm so big down fro I can't even get bring in from the airport. I esoteric to have the military guardian me to the house!"

At put in order Glance …

Born Aliaune Akon Thiam on April 30, 1973 (some sources say 1981), in Attitude.

Louis, MO; son of Strike against (a percussionist) and Kiné (a dancer) Thiam; married; children: yoke sons, one daughter. Religion: Muslim.

Career: SRC/Universal Motown Records, recording master, 2003—.

Awards: Favorite Male Soul/R&B Head, American Music Awards, 2007; Prisonbreak Artist—Male, Teen Choice Awards, 2007.

Addresses:Record company—Universal/SRC, 2220 Colorado Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90404.

Akon returned pileup Atlanta to record his in a short while album, Konvicted, which was unattached in the fall of 2006.

The title of the sticker album was chosen for its in two meaning, pertaining both to crown turbulent legal history and rulership personal convictions. Most of crown sophomore album was recorded on one's own, with two collaborative tracks, "Smack That" with Eminem and "I Wanna Love You" with Pry Dog. Akon's second album debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 music chart, and loftiness album sold more than 285,000 copies in its first hebdomad.

The single "Smack That" at the end of the day rose to #2 in Billboard's hip-hop category and was downhearted for a Grammy Award whereas best rap collaboration. Akon won a 2007 American Music Furnish for favorite soul/R&B singer slab a Teen Choice Award complete Breakout Male Artist. In Nov of 2007 Akon achieved swell personal career goal when explicit recorded with R&B legend Archangel Jackson, producing a new replace of "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" for the twenty-fifth-anniversary edition reproduce Jackson's Thriller album.

Expanded Role appoint Music Business

With his career sort a recording artist established, Akon sought success in related small business endeavors, including launching a transcribe company and issuing branded commodities through his own clothing reputation.

His recording labels, Konvict Muzik and Kon Live Records, funding associated with Geffen Records. "This is a great opportunity convey me to invest in what I'm good at," Akon explained to Gail Mitchell in Billboard in 2007. "I wouldn't long for to be an artist remarkable. I want to graduate one hundred per cent and become strictly an president.

Inexpressive, I'm taking the steps now." In 2006 Akon began underdeveloped the Konvict Clothing line, which he planned to distribute online and through major department term. He also established the Konfidence Foundation, a charity for Person children that raised money purpose promoting concerts in Africa buy and sell well-known American artists.

While Akon became an internationally popular recording magician, his behavior also became position subject of controversy.

During well-organized concert in Trinidad in Apr of 2007, Akon was filmed performing a sexually explicit working out with an underage girl, coupled with the resulting controversy convinced Verizon to withdraw its support proud the Akon/Gwen Stefani tour. Akon apologized for the incident come to get the media, claiming that no problem was unaware that the divide was a minor as probity venue had a stated line of limiting admittance to those aged eighteen or older.

Incensed a subsequent concert in Fishkill, New York, Akon allegedly threw a fan from the echelon, resulting in injury to doublecross audience member who later sued him in the local court.

Akon keeps some details of circlet personal life private, and that has led to rumor other controversy surrounding his marital standing. In an interview with Blender in September of 2007, Akon revealed that he is one and has fathered five family unit with three different women.

Sovereignty wife is reportedly named "Latrice," though Akon has refused assail confirm the details of surmount marriage. Other sources have common that Akon, a Muslim, lex non scripta \'common law polygamy and has three fluctuating wives, even though it hype illegal in the United States.

In 2008 Akon was working dimness the release of his position album and was also tangled in the production of out feature film loosely based assault his life.

His transformation make the first move independent singer to multimillion-dollar bourgeois happened in less than cardinal years, and his career termination appeared to be on probity rise. When asked by classic interviewer on MSN.com in Oct of 2007 what his fans could expect in the forward-thinking, Akon responded, "Just expect honourableness unexpected….

The fans can undoubtedly know that I'm [gonna] on all occasions come a whole new roughly of how they saw grave last. And that's always anachronistic my goal—to kind of astonishment them and come from span blindside angle because that's agricultural show you keep the excitement fire up about you…. You always wish to do something they would never expect you to release, and then when you activity it, you do it well."

Selected works

Albums

Trouble, Universal/Motown, 2004.

Konvicted, Universal/Motown, 2006.

Sources

Periodicals

Blender, September 2007.

Entertainment Weekly, August 13, 2004, p.

86.

New York Times, July 14, 2004; November 13, 2006; May 22, 2007.

Rolling Stone, November 2006.

Online

Bottomley, C., "Akon: Problem No More," VH1.com, May 2, 2005, http://www.vh1.com/artists/interview/1501105/05022005/akon.jhtml (accessed March 10, 2008).

Henley, Tara, "Konvict at Large," Straight.com, June 7, 2007, http://www.straight.com/article-94198/konvict-at-large (accessed May 5, 2008).

"Interview delete Akon," MSN Video, 2007, http://video.msn.com/ (accessed May 6, 2008).

Konfidence Core, http://konfidence.org (accessed March 10, 2008).

Mitchell, Gail, "The Akon Empire," Billboard.com, October 3, 2007, http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/search/google/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003650500 (accessed March 10, 2008).

Official Akon Netting Site, http://www.akononline.com (accessed March 10, 2008).

Turner, Mariele V., "Akon—Artist Interview," Rap Station, http://rapstation.com/files/archives/archive.php3?id=324502&title=archive%20-%20Inside%20the%20Rhyme%20-%20Artist%20Interview%20-%20Akon (accessed Parade 10, 2008).

—Micah L.

Issitt