RnB Singer Akon

Education

Bio Description

Akon was born on 16th April 1973 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. He grew up in Dakar, the capital city of Senegal, and was raised by his father, a Senegalese percussionist, who taught him a lot about music. As a teenager, he permanently moved back to the USA.

It was in jail where he began to appreciate his musical background. After his release, Akon started recording in his home studio, and one if his audition tapes reached the office of Universal. This gave birth to his first Album “Trouble” in the year 2004.

Ongoing Success

Since then, Akon released several more albums and also produced albums for others. An example of his many collaborations with other artists is Gwen Stefani’s “The Sweet Escape”.

Another notable collaboration is the one with rapper Eminem entitled “Smack That”. The track was nominated for the “Best Rap/Sung Collaboration” at the 49th annual Grammy Awards.

A Fresh Voice

Akon brought something entirely new to a genre that was extremely saturated. While most artists compose rap songs to boast about their street smarts, Akon uses the same type of music to talk about loving, losing and loving again (Right Now Na Na Na).

Where others try to tackle living the hard life, Akon speaks of his homeland and the beauty of life (Mama Africa). In African cities you'll hear Akon music everywhere you go: People are proud of their African star and sing along without even realizing.

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