Akon is a Senegalese American Hip Hop singer and songwriter. Akon whose real name is Aliaune Thiam was born in 14th October 1981 in Saint Louis Missouri, but his family settled down in New Jersey. It is in this city that Akon encountered name, fame and also faced penalty for breaking the law. Akon was charged and jailed for armed robbery of automobiles and drug distribution charges. He made good use of his time in prison by working on his music. After he was released form prison he wrote many music tracks and songs working in his home. He also recorded some songs as well and his tapes found their way to SRC/Universal and they releases Akon’s first album titles Trouble in 2004. This album was a fine blend of West African styled vocals, combined with southern beats, east coast beats as well. Till date Akon has produced about fifty songs to his credit.
Later he released many hit singles like Lonely, Pot of Gold, Ghetto, Locked Up and Belly Dancer. The time that Akon spent in jail has a significant impact on his works and this was very much evident in is songs that were released later on. In his hit single Locked Up his experience of the auto theft and his subsequent jail sentence can be felt. The song reached to the top ten in US and the top five in UK. The song Ghetto became a radio hit when this song was remixed by Green Lantern and verses from other rappers like The Notorious B.I.G and 2Pac. Another single Lonely was released in 2005 and this song reached the top 5 in Billboard Hot 100 and was a chart topper in UK, Australia and Germany. In fact Akon’s single became the longest running single at the top running for more then fifteen weeks at a stretch.
In November 2006, Akon released his sophomore debut album Konvicted. This album had collaborations from Eminem, Styles P and Snoop Dog. The album Konvicted has a fine blend of reggae, R and B and Rap that is very true to his African roots and origin. Eminem features in the song Smack That and this is one of the most played songs in the album. Snoop Dog features in the song I Wanna Love You and just as the title suggest this is a love song. Mama Africa is another warm song which features in the album and anyone who has been associated with Africa in anyway will surely love this song. Akon’s Konvicted made its debut at number 2 in Billboard 200. The album sold more then 280,000 copies in the first week itself. The album continued to be at the top of the Billboard 200 for more then 25 weeks.
Currently Akon is planning to wok on a movie that will be based on some of the events in his life. He has also lunched his own clothing line titles Konvicted Clothing. His cloth line features denims, t-shirts, hooded shirts, and blazers for both males and females.
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