Akon

Akon (born Aliaune Damala Badara Akon Thiam on April 30, 1973), is a R&B singer. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri, United States but grew up in Dakar, Senegal and at the age of seven he moved to the USA, settling in Jersey City, New Jersey. He is the son of jazz percussionist Mor Thiam and is fluent in his native language of Wolof as well as English.

Akon grew up in Senegal as a Muslim, eventually settled in New Jersey. There he discovered hip hop for the first time, as well as crime. His first song was entitled "Operations Of Nature," sung when he was fifteen years old. He was jailed for armed robbery and possible drug charges, but he used this time to work on his music. Upon release, Akon began writing and recording tracks in his home studio. The tapes found their way to SRC/Universal, which released Akon's debut LP Trouble June 2004. The album is an interesting hybrid of Akon's silky, West African-styled vocals mixed with East Coast and Southern beats.

His debut album included the singles "Locked Up", "Lonely", "Bonanza (Belly Dancer)", "Pot Of Gold" and "Ghetto". "Locked Up" reached the top 10 in ...