Biography on Akon
Akon who was born "Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam" on April 30, 1973 is a Senegalese American hip hop and R&B singer, songwriter, occasional rapper and record producer. Akon rose to fame in 2004 following the release of his single "Locked Up" from his debut album Trouble. His second album, Konvicted, earned him a Grammy Award nomination for the single "Smack That".
He is the founder of Konvict Muzik
and Kon Live Distribution.
Akon - Career
Akon to sing the 2010 world cup song
Akon -
Name and age
Akon often goes by the shorter, Aliaune Thiam, though
other sources have said his name is Alioune Badara Thiam, and About.com says the long form of his name, "Aliaune
Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam,"
has not been independently verified. His age has also
been under scrutiny recently. Some media institutions
reported that he was born in 1981.
However the AP has
since reported he was born in 1973 and is 34 years old. Akon says he does
not know his exact age nor does he
understand the importance in releasing his age, but
claims he has been "blessed to look young for a long
time. In a September 2007 interview
for an Israeli magazine Akon hinted that he was around
25 or 26
Akon - Background
He is the son of jazz percussionist, Mor Thiam. He was
born in St. Louis, Missouri, but grew up in Senegal and
Jersey City, New Jersey. He recorded his first song,
"Operations of Nature," at the age of fifteen. He was
then subsequently jailed for armed robbery and drug
distribution charges, and used his time in prison to
work on his music.
Akon - 2004–2005: Trouble
Akon's solo debut album, Trouble was released on June
29, 2004. It spawned the hit singles "Locked Up" and
"Lonely," as well as "Belly Dancer"," "Pot Of
Gold," and "Ghetto". Akon served a three
year jail sentence for grand theft auto, an experience
that inspired his "Locked Up"
"Locked Up" reached the top 10 in the U.S. and the top five in the UK. His manager Robert Montanez was shot to death following a dispute in New Jersey in December 2005. "Ghetto" became a radio hit when it was remixed by Green Lantern to include verses from legendary rappers 2Pac and The Notorious B.I.G. In 2005.
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 fifteen weeks. Akon then released another single featuring with a New Zealand rapper, Savage with the single Moonshine.
All the hottest Akon Videos can be seen below.
* Akon Dont
Matter video
* Akon Smack That
video
* Akon Lonely video
* Akon belly
dancer video
*
DJ KHALED AKON ft TI We Takin Over video
* Akon Ghetto video
* Akon Mama Africa
video
Akon - 2006 to 2007: Konvicted
In 2006 to 2007 Akon has had one of the most successful
spans any singer has ever enjoyed with eleven songs in
the Billboard Hot 100. Akon's second album, entitled
Konvicted, was released on November 14, 2006. Konvicted
included collaborations with Eminem, Snoop Dogg and
Styles P. Late August 2006, Akon released the single
"Smack That" featuring Eminem, from the album. This
single peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 for
five consecutive weeks. The music video for "Smack That"
was directed by Raymond Garced. "I Wanna Love You", the
second single off Konvicted, was released in September
2006. It is a collaboration between Akon and Snoop Dogg.
This single earned 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, Akon released his third single "Don't
Matter" which earned him his first solo number one and
second consecutive Hot 100 chart topper. "Mama Africa"
was released as a European single in July 2007, making
it the fourth single. It debuted in the UK at number 47.
"Sorry, Blame It on Me" is the album's fifth single
which debuted in August 2007, on the Hot 100 at number
seven, which also happened to be a career best. The song
is not available on the original album, but instead part
of the Deluxe Edition of Konvicted, which came out
August 28, 2007. The sixth and final single was
confirmed in an interview by Akon to be "Never Took the
Time". Konvicted debuted at number two on the
Billboard 200, selling 286,000 copies in its first week.
After only six weeks, Konvicted sold more than one
million records in the U.S. and more than 1.3 million
worldwide. The album was certified platinum after seven
weeks, and after sixteen weeks it was certified double
platinum. Konvicted was able to stay in the top twenty
of the Billboard 200 for 28 consecutive weeks, where it
peaked at number two on four different occasions.
Currently it has sold more than 2.4 million records in
the U.S. and 3.8 million worldwide in 30 weeks.
Akon will release a Platinum Edition of his album
Konvicted in UK on October 1.
Akon - 2008 New Album
It has been reported on Shade 45 that Akon will release
a 2008 solo album.
Akon - Other ventures
In 2006, Akon started his new record label Kon Live
Distribution under Interscope Records. His first signed
artist was Earl Ray.
He was featured on Gwen Stefani's latest album, The
Sweet Escape. He made an appearance on the title track
and second single, "The Sweet Escape". Akon produced the
song. On December 10, 2006, Akon and Stefani appeared as
musical guests on Saturday Night Live, however they did
not perform the song as Stefani had not yet learned the
lyrics. He performed the song live, however, on American
Idol on March 28, 2007 due to Gwen Stefani's appearance
as a coach the night before. "The Sweet Escape" has
reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. It reached #1 on
United World Chart and is on the top for eight weeks.
The song is also Akon's first #1 on World Chart.
Akon collaborated with Chamillionaire on his mixtape,
Mixtape Messiah 2. He is featured on "Ridin' Overseas",
which he also produced. The mixtape became available for
download on Chamillionaire's website on December 24,
2006.
Akon and Young Jeezy are doing a collaborative album
together. In 2006, after their 2005 Akon-produced
single, "Soul Survivor", the duo said that there is a
lot more to expect from them in the future.
Akon also appeared on Bone Thugs-n-Harmony's album
Strength and Loyalty and Three 6 Mafia's eighth studio
album, Last 2 Walk, We The Best by DJ Khaled, Fabulous
album, From Nothin' to Something', with 50 Cent on
some tracks for Curtis, T.I.'s 5th album, T.I. vs. T.I.P.,
Mario's third solo album Go!, and produced for Daddy
Yankee's El Cartel: The Big Boss which was released on
June 5, 2007.
Akon will be the executive producer of Not 4 Sale,
Kardinal Offishall's fourth solo album, which will be
released in fall or winter 2007. The first single
"Graveyard Shift" features Akon, and Akon also
makes his rapping debut in the song.
Akon holds the record for most guest performances on
popular television show American Idol with two. He once
sang "The Sweet Escape" with Gwen Stefani and three
weeks later he sang "Don't Matter" on the show while it
was number one on the Billboard charts.
Akon 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.
Akon is planning to work on a full-length movie titled
Illegal Alien. The film is based on some of the events
of his life and actor Mekhi Phifer is set to play him. Besides Akon confirmed in August 2007, in the
interview with Polish website INTERIA. PL, that he works
on a movie "Cocaine Cowboys", which tells the story of
Jon Roberts, the main pilot of Medellin Cartel. He was also featured
on a Verizon Wireless commercial and singing Snitch
along with Obie Trice on a CSI: Crime Scene
Investigation episode named "Poppin' Tags."
Akon - Fashion
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 - Personal life
Akon was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He has spent a
total of five years in prison and states that his time
in jail has made him what he is today. He currently
splits time residing between Atlanta, Georgia and Dakar,
Senegal.
In late 2005, his long time friend and manager Robert
Montanez, who Akon referred to as a brother, was killed
in a drive-by shooting; the album Konvicted is dedicated
to him. Akon was also in the car and was shot in the
shoulder, however he made a full recovery.
Akon is of the Muslim faith, it has been reported that
he is both a believer and practitioner of polygamy,
though such reports are unconfirmed, as Akon has not
given a straight answer to questions about the matter.
Akon has recently said in an interview
with an Israeli magazine that he only has one main wife
whose name is Tomeka and claims to have five children
with three different women in an interview with Blender.
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
conflict diamonds saying, "I don't even believe in
conflict diamonds. That's just a movie. Think about it.
Ain't nobody thought about nothing about no conflict
diamonds until the movie came out." He also had a
previous occupation as a drug dealer but states that he
has never used drugs. Despite his criminal history, he
proclaims that he has turned his life around.
Akon - Controversy
Akon -
Trinidad incident
In April 07, Akon drew criticism for having on-stage
simulated sex with Danah Alleyne, a
15 yr old preacher's daughter, at a club in
Trinidad and Tobago, as part of a fake contest, despite
the club's claim to have an eighteen-years and over age
limit. The incident was filmed by Akon's crew
and later uploaded to the Internet. On April 20, 2007
local media, channel TV6, aired the video clip publicly.
Amid criticism on the radio, television, and from the
blogo sphere, Verizon Wireless removed ring tones
featuring Akon's songs. Verizon also decided not to
sponsor The Sweet Escape Tour where Akon was to be the
opening act for Gwen Stefani. However, Universal
Music Group did not take action against Akon, but rather
simply ordered the video clip be removed from
video sharing site You Tube due to copyright
infringement. Conservative commentator and Parents
Television Council founder Brent Bozell called this
"corporate irresponsibility".
In a newly released song, "Sorry, Blame It On Me", Akon
apologizes to the young girl for the incident at the
club, though citing the club for admitting the girl
because she was under 18, and her parents for letting
her go out dressed like an adult. He also tells how
Verizon dropped promoting him and Gwen's tour, and
stopped sale of his ring tones. He also makes several
other apologies to his children, wife, and mother as
well. The song is available to listen to on Akon's
MySpace page and was released onto i Tunes on July
17, 2007.
Political commentators Michelle Malkin, Laura Ingraham,
and Bill O'Reilly criticized Akon for "degrading
women".Malkin uploaded commentary about Akon to
You Tube, using footage from music videos and the
Trinidad concert, and Universal Music Group then forced
its removal by issuing a DMCA takedown notice. The
Electronic Frontier Foundation joined Malkin in
contesting the removal as a misuse of copyright law,
citing fair use. In May 2007, UMG rescinded its
claim to the video, and the video returned to You Tube.
Akon - Fishkill incident
On June 3, 2007, at a concert at the Dutchess
Stadium in Fish kill, New York, 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 and they are interested in speaking to
the thrown boy to determine if charges will be
filed. Akon has claimed that the incident was staged
and that he in fact used the act to set up for the next
record.
Akon - Discography
2004: Trouble
2006: Konvicted
Collaboration Albums
With Young Jeezy
* 2008: Brothers In Arms
Akon Online.us
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