Akon

Although he was born in St.

Louis, MO, 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 -- three years, he claimed -- 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 silky, West African-styled vocals with East Coast- and Southern-styled beats.

The success of the song "Locked Up," a Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 hit, made Akon a star and desired collaborator.

After appearing on Young Jeezy's "Soul Survivor," his number of guest appearances seemed to multiply each month.

Konvicted, his second album, was released in November 2006.

Soon enough, two of the album's singles, "I Wanna Love You" and "Smack That," made their way to the upper regions of the Billboard charts.

The surprisingly Europop-flavored Freedom, his third album, followed two years later, and it repeated Konvicted's chart success by peaking within the Top Ten of the Billboard 200.

Akon subsequently maintained a relatively low profile but resurfaced in November 2010 with Akonic.

~ Johnny Loftus, Rovi

Akon's new album, 'Stadium', is influenced by the many styles of music he has been exposed to touring across the world.

(BANG) -

Akon's new album is influenced by the many styles of music he has been exposed to touring the world.

The 'Sexy Chick' hitmaker drew influence from across the globe to produce 'Stadium' which sees his established hip hop sound mixed with dance beats and influences from as far afield as Japan and India.

The US rapper told MTV: "As you grow, you experience different things. You start travelling, you start collaborating with different people and you start experiencing life bigger.

"I was the type of artist that created my music based from my experience. And nothing has changed. I'm always in Europe, always in Asia, always in India, always in Japan, always in Africa, the U.K., France, and this is the kind of music that I'm exposed to."

Akon - who has Senegalese heritage - has also forged a strong working relationship with French DJ David Guetta, with the pair producing a number of tracks together - including Akon's next European single, 'Angel' - and the rapper praised the "energy" they create when they join forces.

He added: "I just do it to the best of my abilities, because I love how the energy flows, because I see it and how it makes people feel, how it turns the party out, how it blows the concerts out of the water and you're just like, 'This is it!' "

'Angel' is released on November 8 in the UK.

Akon has been banned from playing in Sri Lanka after complaints from the country's Buddhist community about one of his videos.

(BANG) -

Akon has been banned from playing in Sri Lanka.

The R'n'B singer has been denied a visa to perform in the country on April 24 after protests erupted over a music video deemed offensive to the country's Buddhist population.

Thousands of people protested in the country's capital, Colombo, on Monday (22.03.10), saying the singer desecrated the image of Buddha in his video for 'Sexy Chick' - which shows a group of bikini clad women dancing by a pool with a statue of Buddha clearly visible in the background.

The protesters hurled stones at the offices of the Maharaja Organisation - who were sponsoring the concert, also to be held in Colombo - injuring four workers. Several protesters were later arrested by police.

Confirming that Akon's visa has been denied, Director General of Information, Anusha Pelpita, said: "The government has taken into consideration the sensibilities of the Buddhists who have been offended by one of his videos which showed scantily clad women dancing in front of a Buddha statue."

Akon - who is a polygamist Muslim, and has three wives - also got into trouble when he outraged an audience in Trinidad last year when he apparently simulated a sexual act when dancing with a 14-year-old girl onstage. Akon later issued an apology for his actions, saying he didn't realise she was under 18.

Akon has admitted that the colour and visuals in the video for his latest song 'Oh, Africa' make it look like a work of art.

(BANG) -

Akon thinks his latest video for 'Oh, Africa' is a work of art.

The 'Smack That' singer, who worked with 'Knock You Down' hitmaker Keri Hilson on the track, admitted that the new song looks great.

He said: "The whole aura of 'Oh, Africa' is so fun, the colour, the painting and the drums. It brings out all the cultural parts of Africa you can ever think of and it doesn't even seem like a video.

"It seems more like a work of art that just happens to be a video. I hope you enjoy the look behind the scenes".

The song is being funded by drinks brand Pepsi Max and proceeds from its sale will go toward supporting underprivileged children in Africa, with sale proceeds going to a number of charities, including Akon's Konfidence Foundation.

Recently hitmaker David Guetta admitted that he wrote his chart-topping hit 'Sexy B***h' with Akon in just one night.

He said: "We met and Akon was like, 'We need to work together.' So I said, 'Let's go the studio tonight. We don't wait.' He was like, 'That's crazy!'

"We went to the studio in London and we made 'Sexy B***h' in one night."