Akon Biography

                    

Akon is an American artist, songwriter, and record producer born in 1973 on the 30th of April as Aliaune Thiam and is of the Senegalese bloodline. What brought him to fame was his 2004 launch of "Locked Up", the lead single of "Trouble", his debut album. His follow-up album entitled "Konvicted" gave him a nomation in the Grammy Wards because of his single called "Smack That". Akon is also the founder of two recording companies: Kon Live Distribution and Konvict Muzik. 

Akon is the son of Mor Thiam, a well-known Sengalese percussionist, so Akon was raised in a musically inclined household and was taught how to play different instruments. At age 15, he created his first song entitled "Operations of Nature". AKon was said to have spent time in jail for several years, but that was also the time when he realized that he had the talent in music and began to take interest in it. When he got out of prison, he started composing and recording his songs in the home studio he had built, and those tapes were discovered by SRC/Universal, the label responsible for launching Akon's very first LP in 2004: "Trouble". The LP consisted of singles like "Locked Up", "Ghetto", etc. "Locked Up" was included in the US Top Ten chart as well as held the 5th spot in the UK chart. 

In 2006, Akon released a follow-up album:"Konvicted" which was collaboration with famous artists like Snoop Dog, Styles P., and Eminem. The album's lead single was called "Smack That" and featured Eminem, holding the 2nd spot on Billboard's Hot 100 chart for a period of 5 weeks. "Smack That" also gave Akon a Grammy Award nomination for "Best Rap/Sung Collaboration" in December 2006. The next single: "I Wanna Love You" featured Snoop Dog and became Akon's very first chart-topping single on the Billboard Hot 100. 

In the last quarter of 2007, Akon worked with Michael Jackson and remixed "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin". In February of the following year (2008), the said remix was made available on "Michael Jackson's Thriller" and was introduced as a single, being enlisted in the Top 10 charts in many countries. Just last December 2nd of the previous year (2008), Akon's third album "Freedom" was released. It spawned the singles: "I'm So Paid", "Beautiful", and "Right Now (Na Na Na). "Freedom" has sold more than 600,000 copies, thus, it was certified Gold. Akon is also rumored to be collaborating with Jackson on a new album to be released in the present year '09. 
In an interview, Akon admitted that he has a total of five kids born to three different ladies and that as a Muslim, he has never smoked or drank alcohol. Akon also has a life mission to help underprivileged children living in Africa so he founded his charity: Konfidence Foundation.