Akon

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Akon

Singer, songwriter, producer

Urban R&B singer and producer Akon was born in Senegal, and raised in New Jersey, and has proven to be one of the most interesting and unique new voices in contemporary popular music. After his debut album, Trouble, was released in 2004, Akon worked with some of the best names in hip-hop, rap and pop music, including Eminem, R. Kelly, Gwen Stefani, Young Jeezy, and Obie Trice. With two multi-platinum solo records and a bevy of featured production and vocal spots on tracks for other artists, Akon reached worldwide success with his unique music that mixed styles of everything from hip-hop and R&B to reggae and pop. "He's got a voice that cuts through the noise: a smooth, slightly nasal instrument that's one part reggae rootsman, one part Muslim call to prayer, one part R. Kelly," wrote Rolling Stone's Peter Relic.

Akon was born Aliaune Thiam in 1981 in Dakar, Senegal. After just five years Akon and his family moved to Jersey City, New Jersey. Raised by his parents (his father, Mor Thiam, was an accomplished jazz musician), Akon grew up immersed in a musical household. In his teens Akon discovered hip-hop and rap and also encountered the uglier side of life in Jersey City, with its violence and crime. Music was the one constant in his life. "I grew-up listening to all kinds of music. Obviously I love soul songs, but I also like mixing in other types of music," Akon stated on his website. "For every Stevie Wonder track I've listened to, there is another by Steely Dan that helped shape me as an artist."

After getting kicked out of high school, Akon relocated to Atlanta, Georgia. Just as he had done in New Jersey, Akon continued to steal cars and sell them for profit. The aspiring singer ran out of luck one day after stealing a BMW and ended up in an Atlanta jail, where he served three years for grand theft auto. Upon his release, Akon began to focus on writing and recording songs. "Being a convicted felon," he told Entertainment Weekly, "I couldn't really get a job, so making music was the best [option]." Shopping around to record labels with a set of home-recorded R&B demos, in 2003 Akon secured a record deal with SRC/Universal Motown.

With a collection of songs that mixed urban R&B vocals, hip-hop beats, touches of reggae, and pop standards, Akon's debut album shaped up as an eclectic and hard-to-categorize record. On top of everything was Akon's attention-grabbing voice. In 2004 Akon released his debut album, Trouble, which All Music Guide's Johnny Loftus called "an interesting hybrid of Akon's raps and silky, West African-styled vocals with East Coast- and Southern-styled beats." Universal released two very different singles, the Top Ten hip-hop-styled track "Locked Up" and the crossover pop hit "Lonely." The hip-hop/rap market got hooked with "Locked Up," a tune that recounted Akon's time in jail. The noteworthy single "Lonely" was a hit in the pop market as well as in hip-hop/R&B. Much like Akon himself, "Lonely" was a unique mélange of styles. Akon melodically sung over a sample of 1960s crooner Bobby Vinton's memorable song "Mr. Lonely." But while Trouble's album sales were moderately successful, Akon wasn't yet a star. Since neither Akon nor his music could be pigeonholed, his career and subsequent success accelerated gradually. Few even knew that Akon was a talented producer until his profile exploded when he appeared on rapper Young Jeezy's immense 2005 hit "Soul Survivor."

With support from the hip-hop, R&B, and pop markets, Akon became an in-demand producer and guest vocalist. Artists of all genres sought to secure his production skills and vocals for their latest singles. "I think it's the distinct sound that I bring to the table. People want something different in music," Akon told Urban Connectionz. In addition to the Young Jeezy single, Akon worked on the Obie Trice single "Snitch," a remix of India.Arie's "I Am Not My Hair" and Gwen Stefani's "The Sweet Escape" from her second solo album of the same name.

When it came time for Akon to get back to his own music, he settled in to record his sophomore album at his own Koncast Studios in Atlanta. Cautious not to feature too many special guests on his second record, Akon worked with Eminem for his new single "Smack That," and with Snoop Dogg for "I Wanna Love You." With these two smash success singles to support it, in November of 2006 Akon's new record Konvicted debuted at number two on the Billboard charts; the record sold more than 263,000 copies in its first week. "The new album finds the artist on the rebirth trail, but this time, more of his knack for fusing R&B/soul, hip-hop, pop, jazz, and reggae is exposed," wrote Billboard's Gail Mitchell. While it's easy to assume the album's title, Konvicted, had something to do with Akon's past legal troubles, the singer told Vibe that it had more to do with personal convictions. "I always felt like I was being convicted in some way. It was the hip-hop world that accepted me so I kept getting labeled as a rap artist. Then I got labeled a reggae artist. I have a lot of political ties with Africa, so some people thought I was a politician. People naturally assumed me to be a certain thing. It was never really let out who Akon really is."

Akon's collaboration with Eminem on Konvicted's "Smack That" earned the pair a Grammy nomination for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, and by the start of 2007 Akon's solo material was appearing all over hip-hop radio stations, and his work with Stefani's "The Sweet Escape" was on the pop stations. Akon's career appears to have no boundaries. Like many contemporary pop artists, Akon has tried to spread his talent to other aspects of the industry, starting with the launch of his record label and clothing line. His Konvict Music, distributed by Interscope, planned to release a debut album by former TLC member Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas.