About Akon: Senegalese-American singer, record producer and entrepreneur (1973-)
Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam (; born April 16, 1973) is a Senegalese-American singer, songwriter, record producer, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and actor. He rose to fame after releasing the first single “Locked Up” from his debut album in 2004, trouble.
He has since founded two successful record labels, Konvict Muzik and KonLive Distribution. These labels set the stage for many soon-to-be-successful acts such as Lady Gaga, T-Pain, R. City, Kardinall Offishhall and Red Café. his second album, is convicted Three Grammy nominations in two categories, Best Contemporary R&B Album is convicted The album features best rap/song collaborations with “Smack That” and “I Wanna Love You”.
He was the first solo artist to win both first and second place billboard Hot 100 chart twice. Akon has 4 songs certified 3x Platinum, 3 songs certified 2x Platinum, over ten songs certified 1x Platinum, and over ten songs certified Gold for digital sales. Akon has sung songs in other languages, including Tamil, Hindi, and Spanish. He is listed by Guinness World Records as the world’s number one selling master ringtone artist.
Akon provides vocals regularly as a featured artist and currently has over 300 guest appearances and over 35 Billboard Hot 100 songs, and has been nominated for five Grammy Awards. He has released 6 solo albums and handled much of the production of his solo work and guest appearances. In addition to this, he has worked primarily for artists on their respective labels as well as Michael Jackson, Snoop Dogg, Lionel Richie, Leona Lewis, Sean Paul and Whitney Houston and other artists to make records.
Forbes Akon was ranked 80th in the 2010 Forbes Celebrity 100 (Power Rank) and 5th in the 2011 list of the 40 Most Powerful Celebrities in Africa. billboard Akon is No. 6 on the list of the best digital song artists of the decade.
early life
Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam was born on April 16, 1973, to a Muslim family in St. Louis. He spent most of his childhood in Senegal, which he describes as his “hometown”. As the child of dancer mother and percussionist father Mortyam, Akon learned to play five instruments, including drums, guitar and djembe. At the age of 7, he moved with his family to Union City, New Jersey, where he split between the United States and Senegal until settling in Newark, New Jersey. Akon grew up in New Jersey and had a hard time getting along with other kids. When he and his older brother were in high school, his parents left them in Jersey City and moved the family to Atlanta, Georgia. Akon attended William L. Dickinson High School in Jersey City.
music career
2003–05: Discovery and Trouble
Akon’s three years in prison allowed him to recognize his musical abilities and to appreciate his musical background. Music mogul Devyne Stephens, president of Upfront Megatainment, first heard of Akon when rapper Lil’ Zane took him to Stephens’ rehearsal hall, which saw the development of talent like Usher and TLC. The relationship between Stephens and Akon began with friendship and mentorship, the young artist often came by for advice, and Stephens eventually signed him into his production company and began developing him professionally. Akon’s recording with Stephens caught the attention of Universal’s SRC Records. In an interview with HitQuarters SRC A&R Jerome “Knobody” Foster, he said, “What immediately caught my eye was Lonely, and I said, ‘This kid is official — it’s a huge record.'” Fox Special and SRC CEO Steve Rifkind immediately boarded a private jet to Atlanta to meet the young artist. Akon knew Foster’s job as producer Knowbody, so they respected each other and the two hit it off.
Akon’s solo debut album, trouble Issued on June 29, 2004. It spawned the singles “Locked Up”, “Lonely”, “Belly Dancer (Bananza)”, “Pot of Gold” and “Ghetto”. Locked Up hit No. 8 in the US and No. 5 in the UK. “Ghetto” became a radio hit after being mixed by DJ Green Lantern with lyrics from rappers 2Pac and The Notorious BIG. The album combines Akon’s silky West African-inspired vocals with a mix of East Coast and Southern beats. Most of Akon’s songs begin with the jingle of the prison cell door as he utters the word “Konvict.”
In 2005, he released the single “Lonely” (which sampled Bobby Vinton’s “Mr. Lonely”). The song entered the top five on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the charts in Australia, the UK and Germany. In April 2005, his album also climbed to number one in the UK. Akon’s “Lonely” became the longest-running single on the chart when the music channel The Box topped the weekly chart by number of video requests. Chart, spanning fifteen weeks. Akon then appeared on two other singles from the album, P-Money’s “Keep on Callin'” magic city, another single with New Zealand rapper Savage “Moonshine” was a success in both New Zealand and Australia, reaching number one on the New Zealand charts. A year later, in 2005, he made his critically acclaimed first cameo appearance on Young Jeezy’s debut album, Let’s Get It: Mob Motivation 101, with the song “Soul Survivor”. In December of that year, his manager, Robert Montanes, was killed in a shooting after an altercation in New Jersey.
In 2006, Akon and Young Jeezy came up with plans for a collaborative album.
2006-08: Convicted
Akon performing at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Charlotte in 2007.
Akon founded his new label, Kon Live Distribution, under Interscope Records. his second album, is convicted Released in November 2006, it reached number two on the Billboard 200, selling 286,000 copies in its first week. Just six weeks later, is convicted After selling more than one million albums in the U.S., it was certified platinum in seven weeks and double platinum in sixteen weeks.consistently in the top 20 billboard 200 for 28 consecutive weeks and 2nd place four times. On November 20, 2007, the RIAA certified album “Triple Platinum” sold 3 million copies in the United States.
The album includes collaborations with Eminem, Snoop Dogg and Styles P.The first single “Smack That” (featuring Eminem) was released in August 2006 and reached number two on the album billboard Entered the Hot 100 for five consecutive weeks. On October 5, 2006, Akon broke the Hot 100 record with the biggest climb in the list’s 48-year history, as “Smack That” jumped from No. 95 to No. 7. Its No. 6 debut propelled the hit digital hit to 67,000 downloads. Since then, the record has been broken several times. “Smack That” was nominated for Best Rap/Song Collaboration at the 49th Grammy Awards, but lost out to Justin Timberlake and TI’s “My Love.”
“I Wanna Love You”, (with Snoop Dogg) was the second single released in September, which would go on to earn Akon his first number one single billboard Hot 100, Snoop’s second. “I Want to Love You” topped the U.S. charts for two weeks in a row. In January 2007, his third single “Don’t Matter” was released, which earned him his first solo number one and his second consecutive Hot 100 number one. “African Mom” was released as a European single in July 2007, becoming the fourth single from the album. Coinciding with the deluxe release of the album “Sorry, Blame It on Me”, which peaked at number seven on the Hot 100 in August 2007.
In February 2007, Akon launched his clothing line, convict clothing.It features urban streetwear including denim jeans, hoodies, t-shirts and hats. Aglione A premium version or high-end collection for men and women that includes blazers, denim jeans and other pieces.
Akon performs with Gwen Stefani on The Sweet Escape Tour.
He produced and starred in Gwen Stefani’s “The Sweet Escape,” which reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100. Akon performs at Live Earth’s US leg. He later recorded a remix of Michael Jackson’s “Wanna Be Startin ‘Somethin'” to commemorate Jackson’s 25th anniversary re-release. horror film. He also worked with bachata group Aventura and Reggaeton duo Wisin & Yandel on All Up 2 You. The song was nominated for “City Song of the Year” and “Video Collaboration of the Year” at the 2010 Premios Lo Nuestro. He signed Hispanic R&B and reggae artist Jayko to his record label.
2008-09: Freedom
Akon at Mumbai Airport.
Akon releases his third album free Four singles were released on December 2, 2008: “Right Now (Na Na Na)”, “I’m So Paid” (starring Lil Wayne and Young Jeezy), “Beautiful” (playing Colby O’Donis) with Kardinal Offishhall) and “We Don’t Care”. free Certified Platinum in the United States. Rapper Nelly suggested Akon, Pharrell and T-Pain discussed forming a rap supergroup in 2009. Akon and Konvict Muzik produced hip-hop/rock group Flipsyde’s 2009 release, living state, via Kon Live Distribution and Cherrytree Records.He is also the executive producer of Kardinal Offishall’s fourth solo album not 4 sales. First single “Dangerous” featuring Akon peaks at No. 5 billboard Hot 100. He collaborated with Kon Live artist Lady Gaga on the hit “Just Dance” and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Dance Recording at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards.
Akon released a tribute song titled “Cry Out Of Joy” following the unexpected death of Akon’s Michael Jackson. In October 2008, British R&B writer Pete Lewis of the award-winning “Blues & Soul” claimed in an interview that he was close friends with Jackson. In July 2008, a song titled “Hold My Hand”, a A duet/collaboration between R&B Michael Jackson and Akon, circulating on the internet.it’s not included in the tracklist free As Akon said before. In an interview with Tavis Smiley, Akon stated that Jackson had planned to release a high-profile music video, including a music video, until the track leaked. It was Jackson’s last known song before his death on June 25, 2009. Akon wrote the song for Jackson’s posthumous album Michael, which was released as a single in November 2010.
Akon co-wrote and recorded “Put It on My Tab” with New Kids on the Block for their 2008 reunion album blockHe also co-wrote and produced Leona Lewis’ single “Forgive Me” and collaborated with X Factor 2008 winner Alexandra Burke on her debut album.He later teamed up with Whitney Houston for her 2009 comeback album i look at you, on the track “Like I Never Left”. Akon collaborated with Pitbull on the single “Shut It Down” from the album “Rebelution” and remixed his single with Matisyahu…
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