Akon

Akon (born Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam in Dakar, Senegal on October 14, 1981) is an R&B singer who grew up in Senegal for the first seven years of his life, and from the age of seven he grew up in New Jersey. He is a Muslim, and the son of jazz percussionist Mor Thiam.

Akon released his debut album Trouble in 2004, which included the singles "Locked Up (Remix)" (featuring Styles P), "Lonely", "Bananza (Belly Dancer)", "Pot Of Gold" and "Ghetto". "Locked Up" reached the top 10 in the U.S. and the top 5 in the UK, and was written after Akon was jailed for three years for armed robbery. His road manager Robert “Screw” Montanez was gunned to death following a dispute in New Jersey in December 2005. "Ghetto" became a radio hit when it was remixed to include verses from legendary rappers Notorious B.I.G. and 2Pac (Tupac Shakur). In 2005, he released the single "Lonely" (which samples Bobby Vinton's "Mr. Lonely"). The song reached the top 10 on the U.S. charts, and was #1 in both Australia and the UK. His album also climbed to #1 in the UK in April, 2005. Recently, he gained more popularity after being featured in the song "Soul Survivor" with rapper Young Jeezy. He also has his own record label, called Konvict Muzik. Chilli from TLC recently signed with Konvict to release her debut album executive produced by Missy Elliott. Chilli and Akon are currently working on 4 new tracks for the soon to be released album.

Discography

Studio albums

2004 - Trouble

Singles

Year	Title	Chart Positions			Album
Year	Title	US Hot 100	UK Singles	AUS Singles	Album
2004	"Locked Up"	#8	#5	#33	Trouble
2005	"Ghetto"	#92	-	-	Trouble
2005	"Lonely"	#4	#1	#1	Trouble
2005	"Bananza (Belly Dancer)"	#30	#5	#23	Trouble
2005	"Pot Of Gold"	-	#77	-	Trouble
2005	"Baby I'm Back" (Baby Bash featuring Akon)	#19	-	-	Super Saucy
2005	"Soul Survivor" (Young Jeezy featuring Akon)	#4	#16	-	Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101
2005	"Can You Believe It?" (Styles P featuring Akon)	-	-	-	Time is Money
2005	"Moonshine" (Savage featuring Akon)	-	-	#9	Moonshine
2005	"Stay Down" (Ruff Ryders featuring Flashy & Akon)	-	-	-	Redemption: Volume 4
2006	"Snitch" (Obie Trice featuring Akon)	-	-	-	2nd Rounds On Me
2006	"I Am Not My Hair (Konvict Remix)" (India Arie featuring Akon)	-	-	-	I Am Not My Hair: The Remixes
2006	"Gangsta Bop" (Soon)	-	-	-

Guest appearances

2005 "Moonshine" (Savage featuring Akon) NZ #1, Australia #9
2005 "Baby I'm Back" (Baby Bash featuring Akon) US #19
2005 "He's Leavin" (Leah Beabout) featuring Akon (unreleased)
2005 "Soul Survivor" (Young Jeezy featuring Akon) US #4 Release: 23rd January 2006
2005 "Can You Believe It" (Styles P featuring Akon)
2005 "Stay Down" (Ruff Ryders featuring Flashy & Akon) Release: 12th December 2005
2005 "Hustler's Story" (The Notorious B.I.G. featuring Scarface, Big Gee and Akon)
2005 "Miss Melody" (Miri Ben-Ari featuring Akon)
2005 "Gun In My Hand" (Booba featuring Akon)
2006 "U Got Me" (T-Pain featuring Akon)
2006 "Ur Not The Same" (T-Pain featuring Akon)
2006 "Party Gets Hot Tonight" (Rah Digga featuring Akon)
2006 "Find Us" (The Beatnuts featuring Akon)
2006 "Presidential Remix" (Youngbloodz featuring Akon)
2006 "I Am Not My Hair (Konvict Remix) India Arie feat Akon
2006 "Slow Wind Remix" R. Kelly Featuring Akon & Sean Paul
2006 "Never Gonna Get It" Sean Biggs feat Topic & Akon
2006 "Look At Me Now" Obie Trice Feat. Akon]
2006 "Someone" (Keith Sweat feat. Akon)
2006 "Watch Your Movements" (Black Rob feat. Akon)
2006 "On The Block All Day" (Serius Jones feat. Akon)
2006 "Girls" (Beenie Man feat. Akon)
2006 "Snitch" (Obie Trice feat. Akon)

Video Project

Akon is also planning to work on a full-length movie about his life. The title has not yet been confirmed, and the release date will likely be in late 2006 or sometime in 2007.

Trivia

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 15 weeks. It was finally beaten by the smash hit "You're Beautiful" by James Blunt

He appeared on an episode of CSI along with Obie Trice