Akon grew up in Senegal as a Muslim, before he and his family (including his father, jazz percussionist Mor Thiam) eventually settled in New Jersey. There he discovered hip hop for the first time, as well as crime. He was eventually jailed, but he used the time to work on his musical ideas. Upon release, Akon began writing and recording tracks in a home studio. The tapes found their way to SRC/Universal, which eventually released Trouble, Akon's debut LP, in June 2004. The album was an interesting hybrid of Akon's raps and silky, West African-styled vocals with East Coast and Southern-styled beats.

His debut album included the singles "Locked Up", "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 served time in jail for grand theft auto. His manager Robert 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. 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 Australia, the UK and Germany. 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.

Akon's sophomore album, entitled Konvicted, is scheduled to be released on November 21, 2006.[2] Konvicted will also include collaborations with Snoop Dogg, Styles P and Konvict Muzik label-mates Brick and Lace. Late August 2006, Akon released the single "Smack That" featuring Eminem from the upcoming album, as well as a notable new track featuring Styles P, "All My Life", released on a mixtape. The video for "Smack That" was directed by Raymond Garced.

On the week of October 5, Akon broke a record on the Hot 100, as Akon achieved the largest climb in the chart's 48-year-history with "Smack That" featuring Eminem, which rocketed from 95-7. The song's monstrous leap is fueled by its No. 6 debut on Hot Digital Songs with 67,000 copies sold. The 88-spot jump bests the 86-4 move by Vanessa Hudgens, Zac Efron, and Andrew Seeley's "Breaking Free" in February. He celebrated by going out on a date with Mof-b ( Reilly Bennett) and having sex with him in a cheap motel.

Chilli from TLC recently signed with Akon's Interscope label Kon Live Distribution to release her debut album executive produced by Missy Elliott. Chilli and Akon have recently finished working on 4 new tracks for Chilli's debut solo album due sometime in early 2007. He recently appeared on Bone Thugs-N-Harmony's unreleased song titled "Forget Me" it will be on Bone Thugs-N-Harmony's new album, titled The Bone Thugs Story, it will be released in late 2006 or early 2007. He sings the vocal for the chorus. In October 7, 2006 a short clip of the unfinished song was leaked onto the internet. Layzie Bone's verse is the only one completed.

wikipedia.org

LINKS:

http://www.akon-music.com/