Akon

Libra

Akon is the son of jazz percussionist, Mor Thiam. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri instead of Senegal because his family didn't want to go through immigration problems and so he and his siblings could get a better education until he was seven. Split time between Senegal and the U.S. until 15, then his family permanently moved to Jersey City, New Jersey and as such he speaks English, French, and Wolof. In Jersey City, he attended Snyder High School, where he discovered hip hop music.

Akon once was jailed for armed robbery and drug distribution charges, and used his time in prison to work on his music. A total of five years jail, Akon says that his time incarcerated that made him what he is today.

He recorded his first song, "Operations of Nature," at the age of fifteen. 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 in June 2004. The album is a hybrid of Akon's silky, West African-styled vocals mixed with East Coast and Southern beats.

In late 2005, his long time friend and manager Robert Montanez, who Akon referred to as a brother, was killed in a drive by shooting; the album Konvicted is dedicated to him. Akon was also in the car and was shot in the shoulder, however he made a full recovery. He is a Muslim, and is a believer and practitioner of polygamy. He first disclosed it on a radio program saying, "I really don’t bite my tongue for anybody and I always felt like if you’re going to be real, you got to be truthful all the way around the board. Lies only make things worse. But it got to a point where my coming out like that ended up being a mistake."

He reportedly has three wives. He drives an orange Lamborghini Gallardo. He also has his own charity for underprivileged children in Africa called Konfidence Foundation. Akon also owns a diamond mine in South Africa and denies the existence of conflict diamonds saying, "I don't even believe in conflict diamonds. That's just a movie. Think about it. Ain't nobody thought about nothing about no conflict diamonds until the movie came out."

He also had a previous occupation as a drug dealer but states that he has never used drugs. He also said that in spite of his previous criminal history, he has turned his life around, as sung in "Tired Of Runnin'". In 2006, he ventured to Africa to play a concert in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.

In the May 7, 2007 edition of Us Weekly, Akon admits to owning over 4,000 pairs of sneakers.

">
">
">
">">">