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A little bit about me...the akon biography
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By:
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Akon
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Mood:
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just chillin'
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Date:
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09/04/2007 19:50:14
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Music:
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smack that...
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My name is Akon (the singer).
I often go by
the shorter, Aliaune Thiam, though other sources
have said my name is Alioune Badara Thiam.
The long form of the name is, "Aliaune
Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon
Thiam".
My age has also been under
scrutiny recently.
Some media institutions
report that I was born in 1981, making me 26 years
old.
However, recently the AP has been
reporting I was born in 1973 and I'm now 34 years
old.
I don't know my exact age nor do I
understand the importance in releasing my
age.
I've been blessed to look young for a
long time.
In a September, 2007 interview
for an Isreali magazine, I hinted that I was
around 25 or 26.
My father is jazz
percussionist, Mor Thiam.
I was born in
St. Louis, Missouri, but grew up in Dakar, Senegal
- until I was about seven.
I split my time
between Senegal and the U.S. until I was fifteen,
then my family permanently moved to Jersey City,
New Jersey and as such I speak English, French,
and Wolof.
I recorded my first song,
"Operations of Nature," at the age of fifteen.
I was then subsequently jailed for armed
robbery and drug distribution charges and used my
time in prison to work on my music.
Upon
release, I began writing and recording tracks in
my home studio. The tapes found their way to
SRC/Universal, which released my debut LP
"Trouble" in June 2004.
The album is a
hybrid of silky west African-styled vocals mixed
with East Coast and Southern beats.
2004
Trouble
My solo debut album, "Trouble"
was released on June 29, 2004.
It spawned
the hit singles "Locked Up" and "Lonely," as well
as "Belly Dancer (Bananza)," "Pot Of Gold," and
"Ghetto".
I served a three-year jail
sentence for grand theft auto, an experience that
inspired my song, "Locked Up".
"Locked Up"
reached the top 10 in the U.S. and the top five in
the UK.
My 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, I released the
single "Lonely" (which samples Bobby Vinton's "Mr.
Lonely").
The song reached the top five on
the Billboard Hot 100, and topped the charts in
Australia, the UK and Germany.
My album
also climbed to number one in the UK in April,
2005.
When music channel The Box had a top
ten weekly chart, which was calculated by the
amount of video requests, my song, "Lonely",
became the longest running single on the top of
the chart, spanning over fifteen weeks.
I
then released another single featuring a New
Zealand rapper, Savage with the single Moonshine,
which went on to become a success in both New
Zealand and Australia, becoming number one in the
New Zealand charts.
In 2005, I gained more
popularity after being featured on Young Jeezy's
debut album, Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101, on
the song "Soul Survivor" which became a top five
hit on the Billboard Hot 100.
2006
Konvicted
In 2006-2007, I had one of
the most successful spans any singer has ever
enjoyed with eleven songs in the Billboard Hot
100.
My second album, entitled Konvicted,
was released on November 14, 2006.
"Konvicted" included collaborations with
Eminem, Snoop Dogg and Styles P.
Late
August 2006, I 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 myself
and Snoop Dogg.
This single earned me my
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, I released my third
single "Don't Matter" which earned me my 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 will be part of
the Deluxe Edition of Konvicted, due August 28,
2007. The sixth and final single is called "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.
On October 5, 2006,
I broke a record on the Hot 100, as I achieved the
largest climb in the chart's 48-year-history with
"Smack That" jumping from number 95 to 7.
The leap is fueled by its number six debut
on Hot Digital Songs with 67,000 downloads. The
record was broken on April 7, 2007 by Beyonc and
Shakira's Beautiful Liar when it jumped from 94 to
3 on the Hot 100, because of their 150,000 digital
downloads on the Hot Digital Songs.
In
December 2006, my song "Smack That" was nominated
for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the 49th Annual
Grammy Awards, but lost to Justin Timberlake and
T.I.'s My Love.
On July 7, 2007, I
performed at the American leg of Live
Earth.
From April to July, I performed in
The Sweet Escape Tour with Gwen Stefani. From July
to September, I will embark on my worldwide
Konvicted Tour. In September, I will start on the
Canadian leg of the Good Girl Gone Bad Tour with
Rihanna.
On August 2, 2007, I was scheduled
to perform at the Rock tha Block Tour in Australia
but had trouble obtaining a visa due to my
criminal past.
The tour was postponed until
late August and my visa was eventually processed
but I still believe that "Australia is the home of
the convicts so it's the last place I would have
ever thought it would be a problem".
I will
release a Platinum Edition of my album Konvicted
in UK on October 1.
Other
ventures
In 2006, I started my new
record label Kon Live Distribution under
Interscope Records. My first signed artist was
Earl Ray.
Earl Ray 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".
I produced the
song.
On December 10, 2006, Gwen Stefani
and I appeared as musical guests on Saturday Night
Live, however we did not perform the song as
Stefani had not yet learned the lyrics.
I
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 my first #1
on World Chart.
I collaborated with
Chamillionaire on his mixtape, Mixtape Messiah 2.
I am featured on "Ridin' Overseas", which I also
produced. The mixtape became available for
download on Chamillionaire's website on December
24, 2006.
Young Jeezy and I are doing a
collaborative album together.
In 2006,
after our 2005 Akon-produced single, "Soul
Survivor", we said that there is a lot more to
expect from us in the future.
I 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,
Fabolous's album, From Nothin' to Somethin', with
50 Cent on some tracks for Curtis S.S.K.[17],
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.
I 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
myself.
I will be making my rapping debut
in the song.
I hold the record for most
guest performances on American Idol with two.
I once sung The Sweet Escape with Gwen
Stefani and three weeks later, I sung Don't Matter
on the show while it was number one on the
Billboard
charts.
Television
There is a
reality television show in the works.
It
will be called "My Brother's Keeper" and the point
is that my two nearly identical brothers will go
around in Atlanta posing as me (akon) and fooling
people into thinking that it is in fact Akon.
They will try to get VIP treatment, girls
and free things.
People have mistaken my
brothers for myself many times in Atlanta which is
what the show is based
on.
Film
I'm planning to work
on a full-length movie titled Illegal Alien.
The film is based on some of the events of
my life and actor Mekhi Phifer is set to play
me.
I was featured on a Verizon Wireless
commercial.
I was also featured singing
Snitch along with Obie Trice on a CSI: Crime Scene
Investigation episode named "Poppin'
Tags."
Fashion
In February
2007, I launched my 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.
Personal life
I was
born in St. Louis, Missouri. My parents moved to
the United States to avoid immigration problems
and also so that me and brothers could get a
better education.
I have spent a total of
five years in prison and my time in jail has made
me what I am today.
I once considered a
career in basketball until I injured my knee,
which required surgery.
I still remain an
avid New Jersey Nets fan. I also love
soccer.
I currently split time residing
between Atlanta, Georgia and Dakar,
Senegal
In late 2005, my long time friend
and manager Robert Montanez, who was like my
brother, was killed in a drive by shooting; the
album Konvicted is dedicated to him.
I was
also in the car and was shot in the shoulder,
however I made a full recovery.
I am a
Muslim.
It has been reported that I am
both a believer and practitioner of polygamy, but
my answer to that is: "I really don bite my tongue
for anybody and I always felt like if you going to
be real, you got to be truthful all the way around
the board. Lies only make things worse. But it got
to a point where my coming out like that ended up
being a mistake."
I drive an orange
Lamborghini Gallardo, and I also refer to this car
in my song "Smack That".
In the May 7,
2007 edition of US Weekly I admitted to owning
over 4000 pairs of shoes.
I also have my
own charity for underprivileged children in Africa
called Konfidence Foundation.
I also own a
diamond mine in South Africa.
There are no
conflict diamonds: "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."
I was a drug dealer but never used
drugs.
In spite of my previous criminal
history, I have turned my life around, as sung in
"Tired Of Runnin'".
In 2006, I ventured to
Africa to play a concert in Dar Es Salaam,
Tanzania . While performing a show in Lagos,
Nigeria in 2006, my white belt was stolen when I
jumped into the
crowd.
Controversy
In April
2007, I drew criticism for a raunchy dance with a
fourteen year old girl 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 my
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 blogosphere,
Verizon Wireless removed ringtones featuring my
songs.
Verizon also decided not to sponsor
The Sweet Escape Tour where I was to be the
opening act for Gwen Stefani.
However,
Universal Music Group did not take action against
me, but rather simply ordered the video clip be
removed from video-sharing site YouTube 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", I apologize to the
young girl for the incident at the club, though
citing the club for admitting the girl because she
was under 21, and the parents for letting her go
out.
I also tell how Verizon dropped
promoting myself and Gwen's tour, and stopped sale
of my ringtones.
This song was released
onto iTunes (U.S.) on July 17,
2007.
Political commentators Michelle
Malkin, Laura Ingraham, and Bill O'Reilly
criticized me for "degrading women".
Malkin
uploaded commentary about me to YouTube, 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
YouTube.
On June 3, 2007, at WSPK-FM's
KFEST concert at Dutchess Stadium in Fishkill, New
York (near Poughkeepsie), a concert attendee threw
an object toward me on stage.
I 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.
I
then pulled him up from the crowd and hoisted him
across his shoulders.
I 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.
I have confirmed that the incident
was staged and that I in fact used the act to set
up for the next record.
Akon
discography
* 2004:
Trouble
* 2006:
Konvicted
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