Akon

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Born and Raised:

Born: Aliaune Daye Thiam, onOct. 14, 1981. Raised: Akon was born in St. Louis and raised inSenegal, Africa until he was 7. At age 7, he and his family moved toUnion City, New Jersey to live in the United States full-time.

Early Life:

Akon,a Muslim, is the son of jazz percussionist Mor Thiam. While he was inhigh school, his parents moved to Atlanta and left Akon and his brotherbehind to finish school. Akon soon found himself taking advantage ofhis freedom and getting in trouble with both classmates and the legalsystem. Akon was jailed for three years for grand theft auto and duringthat time began working on music. Akon credits a love for music, andadmiration of his father, for allowing him to turn his life around.

Trouble:

Uponrelease from prison, Akon began writing and recording tracks in a homestudio. The tapes found their way to SRC/Universal, and the labelreleased his debut album, Trouble, in June, 2004. The albumincluded the hit singles "Locked Up (Remix)," (featuring the rapperStyles P), "Bananza (Belly Dancer)" and "Ghetto." "Locked Up" reachedthe top 10 on the Billboard singles chart in the U.S., as did the song"Lonely" which samples Bobby Vinton's classic song "Mr. Lonely."

Successful Career:

Currently, Akon has his own record label, Konvict Muzik. His sophomore album, Konvicted, is scheduled for release on Dec. 12, 2006. In addition to the first single, "Smack That," which features the rapper Eminem, Konvicted also included collaborations with Snoop Dogg, Styles P and T-Pain.

The Final Word:

"Ijust don't advertise my age because in this industry you are as youngas you sound. Other than that I’d be glad to tell you how old I am.Once you let people know your age in this business, that’s when thecountdown begins. Matter of fact, they’ll put your deadline on blastfor you. I don’t wanna be in that box so I don’t advertise it, period."-- Akon, to RapStation.com in August, 2004.

Discography:

2004: Trouble, SRC/Universal.2006: Konvicted, Konvict Muzik/UpFront/SRC/Universal Motown.2008: Freedom, Konvict Muzik/Universal Motown.