Akon

Akon is a hip-hop/R&B artist who was raised up in St. Louis, Missouri. His real name is Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam. He was born on April 30, 1973 in Senegal and moved to the United States with his family when he was young. His father, Momar Thiam, was a jazz percussionist. Prior to his discovering music, he led a life of crime for which he was jailed for three years. During his incarceration, he found and worked on music. When he was released, he began writing and recording that music in a home studio. That music eventually found its way to SRC/Universal which resulted in his first album.

Akon’s first album was titled "Trouble" and debuted in June 2004 and was influenced by hip-hop music and his west African style vocals. The song "Locked Up" became a Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 hit. Since that time, he has made a number of appearances on television shows. He released a second album in September 2006 entitled "Konvicted". The first single on that album is "Smack That," featuring "Eminem", and "I Wanna Love You." Both singles made it onto the Billboard charts. He received a Grammay Award nomination for the album Konvicted. A third album, titled "Freedom" was released in 2008 and also made it onto the Top Ten Billboard charts. http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/akon/artist.jhtml#biography

He is also recognized for reggae music with his song "Ghetto" becoming one of his most popular songs to date. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1868102/bio

After finding success in the music industry, Akon co-founded the record label Konvict Muzk in 2005. A year later, he founded a second record label known as Kon Live Distribution.

Recently, Akon was denied a visa to perform in Sri Lanka due to protests by Buddhists who are offended by one of his music videos. The video for his song "Sexy Bitch" contains scantily clad women who are dancing in front of a statue of Buddha. Most of the population in Sri Lanka are Buddhists. Akon was scheduled to do a concert there in April 2010. http://www.billboard.com/artist/akon/491541#/news/akon-denied-visa-to-perform-in-sri-lanka-1004077847.story

• 2004 : Trouble
• 2006 : Konvicted
• 2008 : Freedom
• 2010 : Stadium Music

• 2004: "Locked Up"
• 2005: "Ghetto"
• 2005: "Lonely"
• 2005: "Belly Dancer (Bananza)"
• 2005: "Pot of Gold"
• 2006: "Smack That" (feat. Eminem)
• 2006: "I Wanna Love You" (feat. Snoop Dogg)
• 2007: "Don't Matter"
• 2007: "Mama Africa"
• 2007: "Sorry, Blame It on Me"
• 2008: "I Can't Wait"
• 2008: "Right Now (Na Na Na)"
• 2008: "I'm So Paid" (feat. Lil Wayne)
• 2008: "Troublemaker"
• 2009: "Beautiful" (feat. Colby O'Donis & Kardinal Offishall)
• 2009: "We Don't Care"
• 2009: "Be With You"