Aliaune Damala Akon Thiam – born 04/16/1973 in St. Louis, Missouri – is an American-Senegalese R&B artist, songwriter, producer, record exec, & philanthropist. Born in Missouri to a musician family where mother was a dancer & his father was a percussionist; they never settled in an area for long. Due to Muslim patronages, they would often travel back and forth between Senegal & the US. It wasn’t until Akon was 7, that the family settled permanently in Union City, New Jersey. When he & his brothers reached high school age, the parents moved to Atlanta; giving the children, a choice to stay or come with them – and Akon decided to remain in NJ. By 1999, he became involved in a street auto-theft ring that had him going in & out of jail. It was during this time; he developed an appreciation for his musical background and began singing background vocals for Lil Zane. Akon formed a friendship/mentorship with music mogul Devyne Stephens. Stephens, the president of Upfront Megatainment owned a rehearsal hall and at the time was developing Usher & TLC with singing lessons, and scouting Lil Zane. Stephens signed Akon to a production deal, helped him create a demo, and brought him to the attention of SRC/Universal Records. Upon a private meeting in Atlanta, SRC’s CEO Steve Rifkind signed him in 2003, and released Akon’s debut album ‘Trouble’ in June 2004. ‘Trouble’ spawned (5) singles, earned a Platinum sales plaque in the US, and was Akon’s most successful album in the UK & Japan.
Akon’s growing popularity led him to making numerous guest appearances on others’ hit songs, starting 2005 with Young Jeezy’s “Soul Survivor”. In December 2005, his manager Robert Montanez was tragically killed in a New Jersey shooting. By 2006, Akon started his own label imprint Konvict Music/Kon-Live Distribution under Interscope Records; and a year later started his own fashion line, Konvict Clothing. He quickly signed a plethora of artists including – Lady Gaga, T-Pain, French Montana, Kardinal Offishall, Colby O’Donis, WizKid, Red Café, & Dolla. Equally impressive, he began producing and/or writing a lot of artists’ works too such as – Gwen Stefani, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Wyclef Jean, Rick Ross, David Guetta, Leona Lewis, Bone Thugs ‘N Harmony, New Kids On The Block, Daddy Yankee, Styles P, Ashanti, Plies, Mario, Baby Bash, etc. Through his wealth, Akon created the Konfidence Foundation & the ALA (Akon Lighting Africa), both philanthropic projects in 2014, to help drive Africa’s transformation through the donation of mosquito nets, improved internet & cell-communication technology, and raising funds to provide electricity for the continent by solar energy.
Musically, Akon has created: (3) studio albums & (3) mixtapes – which along with features, have collective helped him earn: (5) 3x Platinum plaques, (4) 2x Platinum plaques, (11) Platinum plaques, & (9) Gold plaques – as well as (5) Grammy nominations…
>‘Trouble’ (2004)
>’Illegal Alien, Vol. 1 Mixtape’ (2005)
>’Konvicted’ (2006)
>’Freedom’ (2008)
>’The Koncrete Mixtape’ (2012)
>’Konkrete Jungle Mixtape’ (2012)
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