. Website Aliaune Damala Badara Akon Thiam (born April 16, 1973), known as Akon ( ), is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, entrepreneur, philanthropist and actor. He rose to prominence in 2004 following the release of ', the first single from his debut album,. He has since founded two successful record labels,.
Mix - Akon - Beautiful (ft. Colby O'Donis & Kardinal Offishall) with Lyrics YouTube Akon - Right Now (Na Na Na) with lyrics - Duration: 4:13. Loingeksek 5,033,403 views.
The labels served as a stepping stone for many soon-to-be successful acts, most notably, and, among others. His second album, received three nominations for the Grammy Awards in two categories, for album and for ' and '. He is the first solo artist to hold both the number one and two spots simultaneously on the Billboard Hot 100 charts twice. Akon has had four songs certified as 3× platinum, three songs certified as 2× platinum, more than ten songs certified as 1× platinum and more than ten songs certified as gold in digital sales.
Akon has sung songs in other languages including,. He was listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the #1 selling artist for master ringtones in the world. Akon often provides as a featured artist and is currently credited with over 300 guest appearances and more than 35 songs.
He has had five nominations and has produced records for artists such as,. Forbes ranked Akon 80th (Power Rank) in in 2010 and 5th in 40 Most Powerful Celebrities in Africa list, in 2011. Billboard ranked Akon No. 6 on the list of Top Digital Songs Artists of the decade. Contents.
Early life Akon was born in,. He spent a significant part of his childhood in, which he described as his 'hometown'. The child of a dancer mother and a percussionist father, Akon learned to play five instruments, including drums, guitar. At age 7, he moved with his family to, splitting his time between the United States and Senegal until settling in. 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 and moved the rest of the family to, Georgia. In regards to his birth date, Akon is very protective of it, which is the reason many media outlets have reported incorrect dates. 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 brought him along to Stephens' rehearsal hall, a place that at the time saw talents such as and being developed. The relationship between Stephens and Akon began as a friendship and, with the young artist regularly stopping by to ask for advice, with Stephens eventually signing him to his production company and began grooming him professionally.
The songs Akon recorded with Stephens were brought to the attention of 's imprint. In an interview with SRC A&R said, 'What caught my attention right away was 'Lonely', and I said, 'this kid is official – this is a huge record.' Foster and SRC CEO Steve Rifkind immediately boarded a private plane to Atlanta to meet the young artist.
Akon knew of Foster's work as producer and so there was a mutual respect for one another and the pair hit it off. Akon's solo debut album, was released on June 29, 2004. It spawned the singles ' and ', ', ', and '.
'Locked Up' reached 8th position in the U.S. And 5th in the UK. 'Ghetto' became a radio hit when it was by to include verses from rappers and 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'. In 2005, he released the single 'Lonely' (which samples 's '). The song reached the top five on the, 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 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 was then featured on two other singles, 's 'Keep on Callin' off the album, and the other with rapper, with the single ', which had become a success in both New Zealand and Australia, becoming number one in the New Zealand charts. A year later in 2005, he made his first critically acclaimed guest appearance on 's debut album, with the song '. In December the same year his manager, Robert Montanez was killed in a shooting after a dispute in. In 2006, Akon and Young Jeezy suggested plans for a collaborative album. 2006–08: Konvicted.
Akon performing at the in, 2007. Akon started his new record label under. His second album, was released in November 2006 and debuted at number two on the, selling 286,000 copies in its first week. After only six weeks, Konvicted sold more than one million records in the U.S. 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.
The album included collaborations with,. The first single ' (featuring Eminem) was released in August 2006 and peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 for five consecutive weeks.
On 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 7. The leap was fueled by its number six debut on with 67,000 downloads. The record has since been broken several times.
'Smack That' was nominated for at the, but lost to and 's '. ', (featuring ) 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 ' which earned him his first solo number one and second consecutive Hot 100 chart topper was released. ' was released as a European single in July 2007, making it the fourth overall single from the album.
To coincide with the release of the deluxe edition of the album ' debuted in August 2007 on the Hot 100 at number seven. 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. Akon at airport. Akon released his third album on December 2, 2008, which spawned four singles: ', ' (featuring and ), ' (featuring and ) and '. Freedom was certified platinum in US. Rap singer Nelly suggested that Akon, and had talked about forming a rap supergroup in 2009. Akon and produced hip hop/rock group 's 2009 release, State of Survival, released via.
He was also the executive producer of Kardinal Offishall's fourth solo album. The first single ', which featured Akon peaked at No.
5 on the Billboard Hot 100. He co-wrote artist 's hit ', and which earned a Grammy nomination for Best Dance Recording at the.
After the unexpected death of, who Akon was working with, Akon released a tribute song called 'Cry Out Of Joy'. Akon claimed to be close friend with Jackson near the end of Jackson's life in an interview UK R&B writer Pete Lewis of the award-winning 'Blues & Soul' in October 2008 In July 2008, a song called ', an R&B duet/collaboration between Michael Jackson and Akon, circulated the internet. It was not included in the track list for Freedom as Akon previously stated. During an interview with, 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. Akon finished work on the song for Jackson's posthumous album, and it was released as a single in November 2010. Akon co-wrote and recorded 'Put It on My Tab' with for their 2008 reunion album. He also co-wrote and produced ' single ' and worked with 2008 winner on her debut album.
He later worked with for her 2009 comeback album, appearing on the track 'Like I Never Left'. Akon collaborated with on the single ' from the album ' and worked with to remix his single ' on his album. He also co-produced singer ' debut single, ', from her debut album,.
IsThereSomethingICanDo.com, launched On March 25, 2009, The social action collaboration project between the artists and Akon has partnered with DoSomething.org, to coincide with the release of 'Blood Into Gold'. The song focused on and featured both artists. Collaborated with Akon in ', the first track by Akon. The song reached number 1 in more than six countries, and charted at 5 on the. He produced and recorded ' for the 2010 World Cup with Pepsi. According to, Akon grossed $13 million in 2011, $21 million in 2010, $20 million in 2009 and $12 million in 2008. 2010–present: Stadium A single, ', produced by Guetta, was released in September 2010, which peaked at number 56 on the US Billboard charts, significantly lower than his previous outings.
Akon performed the song during the 2010. Akon travelled to Jamaica to work with,.
Around the same time, Akon collaborated with and on ', charting on number 36 on the Billboard charts. The single was first intended to from Dr. Dre's forthcoming album; however, it was removed from the final album track list, with the album eventually being unreleased.
He also contributed ', a in aid of the. After an almost 3-year hiatus from solo work, Akon released the promotional single 'Dirty Work', featuring, which was released in February 2013, peaked at number 31 on the. Later that year, on November 11, 2013, Akon released a standalone single titled '. On January 1, 2015, Akon released five singles from Stadium. He also announced that the album would be a quintuple album, broken up into five different genres (Euro, Pop, Urban, Island & World). All singles failed to chart. In November 2015, Akon announced via his official website that was planning to release his fourth album Stadium in four versions: Stadium- Island, Stadium- Urban, Stadium- World and Stadium- House.
These editions of the album will be available exclusively via the Stadium which is supported by ads but allows fans to stream the albums. The album was indefinitely postponed and has yet to be released as of today. In late 2015 and early 2016, Akon released the singles 'Want Some', 'Hypnotized' and 'Good Girls Lie', upon striking a new record deal with.
In April 2016, Akon appeared in the Chinese reality TV show along with the Taiwanese singer. Later that year, he was featured on the remix of 's single, ', and featured alongside on 's Michael Jackson tribute single, 'Moonwalk'. In late 2017, he released a collaborative mixtape with Konvict signees entitled Konvict Kartel Vol. Akon Lighting Africa. Main article: Akon also started a project in 2014 which provides electricity in 15 countries of.
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.
In 2006, it was announced that Akon is planning to work on a full-length movie titled Illegal Alien, which will be based on his life. Several sources have reported that actor will portray Akon in the film. Besides, Akon confirmed in August 2007, in an interview with Polish website INTERIA.PL, that he works on a movie, 'Cocaine Cowboys', which tells the story of, the main pilot of the. On November 30, 2007, Akon entered the Big Brother house in as a guest. He also appeared on edition of November 17, 2008 of, with citing him in his speech. He collaborated with music director duo and the English and lyrics of ' as a part of the soundtrack for the 2011 Bollywood film. Akon made his acting debut appearing alongside an ensemble cast in the 2012 Nigerian-American film.
In 2014, he starred alongside and in the action movie, directed. Personal life Akon claims that he has six children with three different women in an interview with, all of whom he has great relationships with. He says he wishes to keep his family protected from the public eye. He also has his own charity for underprivileged children in Africa called Konfidence Foundation. Akon owns a diamond mine in South Africa and denies the existence of (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 ' was released.' 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. Akon appeared on the show.
He stated on the show that he is a fan of English club In October 2018, Akon received some media coverage for his 'serious consideration' in running for in the. Legal difficulties Akon has stated that he was part of an auto-theft ring and spent four years in prison from 1999 to 2002. However, in April 2008, website challenged his claim with court records and interviews with detectives involved in Akon's case, concluding that he was not convicted of any crime and did not serve time in prison. Akon responded to the report by saying that he never spent 3 years in prison, but had many shorter sentences that add up to three years. In April 2007, Akon drew criticism for an onstage act which included simulated sex with a 15-year-old girl, at a club in, as part of a fake contest, despite the club's claim to have a 21 years and over age requirement.
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The incident was filmed by Akon's crew and later uploaded to the Internet. On April 20, 2007 local media, channel, aired the video clip publicly. Amid criticism on the radio, television, and from the, removed ringtones featuring Akon's songs.
Verizon also decided not to sponsor where Akon was to be the opening act for. However, did not take action against Akon, but rather simply ordered the video clip be removed from video-sharing site YouTube due to. Conservative commentator and founder called this 'corporate irresponsibility'. Political commentators, and criticized Akon for 'degrading women'.
Malkin uploaded commentary about Akon to, using footage from music videos and the Trinidad concert, and then forced its removal by issuing a takedown notice. The joined Malkin in contesting the removal as a misuse of copyright law, citing. In May 2007, UMG rescinded its claim to the video, and the video returned to YouTube. On June 3, 2007, at 's KFEST concert at the in, 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. Akon has claimed that the incident was staged and that he in fact used the act to set up for the next record. 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. In 2010, Buddhist groups in Sri Lanka vehemently protested a planned concert by Akon, claiming his music video with Guetta for ' insulted because of the Buddha statue that can be seen several times in the background. Considering the allegations against Akon, the decided not to issue him a to enter into.
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