50 Fun Facts About Akon

Akon spent much of his childhood in Senegal, but in which American city was the singer born?

St. Louis, Missouri, is where Akon was born in 1973, though he calls Senegal his hometown. He was seven when the family settled in New Jersey.

Akon pitched Akon City, planned for Senegal's coast, as a real-life version of which fictional nation?

Wakanda, the hidden high-tech kingdom of Black Panther, was Akon's stated inspiration when he announced the project in 2018. The plan was abandoned in 2025 with only a welcome centre partly built.

Guinness World Records once listed Akon as the world's best-selling act in which music format?

Ringtones cut from his original recordings, known as mastertones, had sold 11 million by December 2007, more than any other act had managed.

Which future pop superstar did Akon sign to his KonLive label after hearing her sing a reference vocal?

Lady Gaga impressed Akon in the studio, and he persuaded Interscope boss Jimmy Iovine to share her contract with his own label. He went on to co-write her breakthrough single, Just Dance.

Which superstar recorded the duet "Hold My Hand" with Akon, released only after the star's death?

Michael Jackson heard the song while Akon was in Las Vegas helping with his next album, and asked to sing on it. It had first been written with Whitney Houston in mind.

Many Akon tracks announce themselves with the word "Konvict" and which sound effect?

A cell door clanking shut became the audio signature of Akon and his label, a nod to the jailbird image behind his early career.

Akon Lighting Africa, co-founded by Akon in 2014, powers villages using which energy source?

Solar power runs the street lights and home kits the project installs, and young locals are trained to maintain them. By 2015 it was working in 14 African countries.

Which rapper produced "Smack That" and joined Akon on it after the pair met at an Obie Trice session?

Eminem had been wary of doing too many guest spots, so Akon flew to Detroit as soon as he got the call. The single spent five straight weeks at number two on the Hot 100.

Which Akon single, built on a sped-up 1960s vocal sample, topped the UK, Australian and German charts?

Lonely borrows the chorus of Bobby Vinton's "Mr. Lonely", pitched up until it sounds like a cartoon chipmunk. Label bosses who heard the demo flew straight to Atlanta to meet Akon.

Akon and Keri Hilson recorded "Oh Africa" as a Pepsi charity anthem for which 2010 sporting event?

FIFA World Cup football came to African soil for the first time in 2010, and the video packs in cameos from Lionel Messi, Didier Drogba and Thierry Henry. Proceeds went to Akon's children's charity.

Which West Coast rapper joined Akon on "I Wanna Love You", the singer's first Hot 100 number one?

Snoop Dogg replaced the track's original rapper, who had been arrested that summer, and scored only his second chart-topper. The song also sits on his album Tha Blue Carpet Treatment.

Akon produced and sang the hook on "The Sweet Escape", a 2006 title track for which pop star?

Gwen Stefani said the beat Akon built for her pointed the way back to a No Doubt record. The single reached number two in the US and earned a Grammy nomination for pop collaboration.

Which French DJ made the 2009 club hit "Sexy Chick" with Akon in a single night in a London studio?

David Guetta met Akon at a concert, and they rented a studio at once rather than wait. The track went to number one in Britain, Germany and Australia.

Which debut single, chosen to win over the streets before radio, gave Akon a US top ten hit in 2004?

Locked Up was picked as a street record to build a fan base first, with a more commercial ballad held back to follow it. It climbed to number eight on the Hot 100.

Which singer behind "Buy U a Drank" won a Konvict Muzik deal after reworking Akon's debut single?

T-Pain had rival offers as high as $900,000, but Akon won him over by promising to mentor him personally. The two later shared a top five hit with Bartender.

Which reggae legend has a writing credit on Akon's "Don't Matter", whose chorus draws on "Zimbabwe"?

Bob Marley's 1979 track shaped the chorus, and Akon says No Woman, No Cry taught him to wrap sad words in a happy tune. The result was his first solo US number one.

Akon built his "Konvict" image on a claim that he once ran what kind of criminal operation?

A car theft ring and three years inside was the story Akon told interviewers, and it gave his second album its title. Court records later showed a single conviction, for a gun charge, and probation.

Which investigative website used court records in 2008 to show that Akon had embellished his prison past?

The Smoking Gun interviewed detectives on his case and found no trace of the long sentence he described. Akon replied that several shorter spells behind bars added up to three years.

At a 2007 concert in Fishkill, New York, what did Akon do to a teenage fan that led to a harassment plea?

Akon threw him into the crowd from his shoulders after security brought up the teen accused of hurling an object at the stage. The plea cost him a $250 fine and 65 hours of community service.

Akon's father, Mor Thiam, whose group was once invited to the White House, made his name in which musical role?

Percussionist Mor Thiam recorded his first album in 1973 to help the victims of a drought in Africa. Akon's mother, Kine, was a dancer.

Which 2004 debut album by Akon slowly climbed the UK chart before reaching number one the following spring?

Trouble entered the British album chart in February 2005 and took until the end of April to reach the top. In the US it was certified double platinum.

Akon's third studio album, Freedom, was first announced in 2008 under which courtroom-flavoured title?

Acquitted would have kept up the legal theme of his earlier records, but Akon changed the name before release. Freedom also became his first album without a Parental Advisory sticker.

Which Jamaican Olympic sprinter does Akon name in his opening verse of the 2008 single "I'm So Paid"?

Usain Bolt, fresh from his record-breaking Beijing Olympics, was a known fan of Akon's music. Swimmer Michael Phelps gets a mention later in the same song.

"Smack That" by Akon broke which Billboard Hot 100 record in October 2006, helped by 67,000 downloads?

Biggest one-week climb in the chart's 48-year history was the feat: the single vaulted from number 95 to number 7. The record has been beaten several times since.

Akon sang "Chammak Challo" for Ra.One, a 2011 superhero film starring which Bollywood icon?

Shah Rukh Khan plays a dual role in the film, and the song was named India's most downloaded of the year. It was Akon's first collaboration with Indian musicians.

Akon's first acclaimed guest spot came on "Soul Survivor", a 2005 single by which Atlanta rapper?

Young Jeezy placed the track on Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101, which entered the Billboard 200 at number two. A year later the pair floated plans for a joint album.

Akon produced and sang on "I Tried", a 2007 top ten comeback hit for which Cleveland rap group?

Bone Thugs-n-Harmony reached number six with the song, their highest chart placing in ten years. Its theme is the struggles both they and Akon faced on the streets.

Akon joined the 2010 remake of which 1980s charity anthem to raise money after the Haiti earthquake?

We Are the World was re-recorded 25 years after the original famine-relief single, while many of the singers were in Los Angeles for the Grammy Awards.

Akon's 2019 album featuring Becky G and Farruko was his first recorded in which language?

Spanish first appeared in his music on a 2018 duet with reggaeton star Ozuna, when he also adopted the nickname El Negreeto, later the album's title. It was his first studio album in 11 years.

Akon, who grew up partly in Senegal, has said that he never consumes what?

Alcohol is off the menu for Akon, who is Muslim and describes himself as a teetotaler. That makes him an unlikely voice on some of the best-known drinking songs of the 2000s.

In which 2014 crime drama did Akon act alongside Hayden Christensen and Adrien Brody?

American Heist reworks a 1959 bank robbery film and had its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. It was directed by Russian film-maker Sarik Andreasyan.

Akon made his acting debut in Black November, a 2012 drama set in an oil-rich part of which country?

Nigeria's Niger Delta is the setting, where a community takes on its government and an oil multinational to save its environment. Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger are also in the cast.

Akon said in 2020 that he had quit which African mining business because it was worse than the drug trade?

A diamond mine in South Africa was part-owned by Akon, who in 2007 dismissed conflict stones as a movie invention. He later accepted that they exist and walked away from the business.

Which country refused Akon a visa in 2010 after protests over a Buddha statue in the "Sexy Chick" video?

Sri Lanka's government acted after Buddhist groups protested against his planned concert, saying the statue in the background of the party video insulted their faith.

Which US phone company dropped Akon's music and a tour sponsorship after a 2007 controversy in Trinidad?

Verizon dropped his songs from its store and withdrew its backing from a pop tour he was booked to open, after footage emerged of his stage act with a girl who turned out to be 15.

While still in high school, Akon joined the extended musical family of which New Jersey hip-hop trio?

The Fugees' wider circle was known as the Refugee Camp, and a teenage Akon was part of it. A 1996 single even won him a deal with Elektra, which lapsed when the song failed to catch on.

A hit remix of Akon's "Ghetto" added verses from The Notorious B.I.G. and which other late rapper?

2Pac and Biggie, bitter rivals in life, were stitched together on the remix years after both were killed. It turned a song about inner-city poverty into a US radio hit.

Which Euro-club-styled lead single from Akon's 2008 album Freedom reached number eight on the Hot 100?

Right Now (Na Na Na) was built for a European dance-floor feel, and its video has passed a billion YouTube views.

Akon's "Smack That" lost the 2007 Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration to "My Love" by T.I. and which singer?

Justin Timberlake took the award with a single co-produced by Timbaland. A year later Akon was back in the same category with I Wanna Love You.

Akon was a support act on the 2011 North American leg of the OMG Tour, headlined by which R&B star?

Usher took Akon on the road for the tour's second North American leg, from April to June 2011. Three years earlier Akon had toured Canada with Rihanna.

Akon learned five instruments growing up, including guitar and which West African drum?

Djembe drums are goblet-shaped, tuned with rope and played with bare hands. Akon picked up the instrument during a childhood split between Senegal and the US.

Akon named the upscale sister line to Konvict Clothing after himself, using which part of his birth name?

Aliaune is the first of the many names Akon was given at birth, and the label sold blazers and premium denim for men and women. The streetwear line it sat above launched in February 2007.

Which 2008 Kardinal Offishall single with an Akon hook won the Juno Award for Single of the Year?

Dangerous reached number five on the Hot 100, the Toronto rapper's best showing in the US, and number two at home in Canada. Akon had signed him to KonLive the year before.

Akon co-wrote and produced "Forgive Me", a 2008 dance-pop single for which British X Factor winner?

Leona Lewis took the song straight in at number five in the UK, her fourth single to reach the top ten there. Akon wrote it with Claude Kelly and Giorgio Tuinfort.

Akon sang on "Kush", a 2010 single first meant for Detox, the never-released album by which producer?

Dr. Dre dropped the song from the album's track list, and Detox itself never came out; he released Compton in 2015 instead. The single still reached the US top 40.

Akon's guest spot on "Moonshine" by rapper Savage spent seven weeks at number one in which country?

New Zealand is Savage's home country, and the single finished third on its year-end chart for 2005. It went on to reach the Australian top ten.

In 2007 Akon walked into the house as a surprise guest on which country's celebrity Big Brother?

The Philippines' Pinoy Big Brother welcomed him the day after a concert, though his schedule was so tight that some housemates met him for only ten seconds.

Akon's brother Bu Thiam, a record executive, spent 2020 to early 2022 managing which rapper?

Kanye West worked with Thiam for about two years before Thiam joined Columbia Records as an executive vice president. Bu had earlier helped Akon set up the Konvict Muzik label.

In 2011 Akon signed which twin-brother Afropop duo to Konvict Muzik to represent the label in Africa?

P-Square, twins Peter and Paul Okoye, signed in the same year as the solo stars Wizkid and Tuface. The brothers wrote and produced most of their own songs.

Akon played the American leg of which worldwide series of concerts held on one day in July 2007?

Live Earth brought together more than 150 acts in eleven locations on a single day, 7 July 2007, in a campaign backed by former US vice president Al Gore.