Featured
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Video | Smack That (Live) Adding a live horn section, our VMA DJ and Senegalese hip-hop artist Akon team up to perform "Smack That" from Akon's latest album, 'Konvicted.'
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Special | Backstage Pass: Akon From trouble maker to record breaker, Akon gives it up for this mtvU exclusive.
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Special | DJ Mark Ronson And Guests Live From The 2007 VMAs Too talented to just spin a few beats before cashing in his chips, our house DJ Mark Ronson collaborated with Akon, Maroon 5's Adam Levine and more during our big Vegas party.
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Album | Konvicted Universal
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News | Akon's Con? Singer Allegedly Made Up Most Of His Felonious Past
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News | Nelly Lines Up Usher, Fergie And Akon For Brass Knuckles -- But No Bruce Springsteen
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Full Biography
Although he was born in St. Louis, Aliaune Thiam -- aka 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. 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. The success of the song "Locked Up" raised Akon's profile, and he followed up in the fall of 2006 with Konvicted. Soon enough, two of the album's singles, "I Wanna Love You" and "Smack That," had made their way to the upper regions of the Billboard charts. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
