The December 2008 release avoided the rugged hip-hop/R&B hybrid of his earlier work and courted a broader audience with a dance-oriented Europop sound. Soon enough, two of the album's singles, "I Wanna Love You" and "Smack That," made their way to the upper regions of the Billboard charts.Ī significant stylistic shift occurred with Freedom, his third album. Konvicted, his second album, was released in November 2006. After appearing on Young Jeezy's "Soul Survivor," his number of guest appearances seemed to multiply each month. The success of the song "Locked Up," a Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 hit, made Akon a star and desired collaborator. The album was an interesting hybrid of Akon's silky vocals with East Coast- and Southern-styled beats. The tapes found their way to SRC/Universal, which eventually released Trouble, Akon's debut LP, in June 2004. Upon release, Akon began writing and recording tracks in a home studio. He was eventually jailed, but he used the time - a total of three years, he claimed - to work on his musical ideas. There he discovered hip-hop for the first time, as well as crime. Louis, Missouri, in 1973, Akon grew up in Senegal before he and his family (including his father, jazz percussionist Mor Thiam) returned to the United States and settled in New Jersey when he was seven. 2.īorn Aliaune Damala Badara Akon Thiam in St. He has showcased these label connections on 2013's Konvict Mixtape, Vol. Along with his music, Akon founded his own Konvict label, helping launch the careers of artists including T-Pain, Lady Gaga, and Kardinal Offishall. and U.K., the song helped Trouble go platinum, a certification achieved several times over on subsequent albums including 2006's Konvicted and 2008's Freedom. Mixing smooth R&B vocals with hip-hop grooves, Senegalese-American singer, producer, and entrepreneur Akon first gained fame with the single "Locked Up," from his 2004 debut album, Trouble.
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