Artist "Akon"

Akon, Aliaune Damale Badara Akon Thaim born on the 16th of April in 1973 is a American R&B and hip hop recording artist and song writer and business man. He rose to prominence in 2004 following the realease of "locked up" the first single from his debut album " Trouble"













He is the first solo artist to hold both the number one and two spots simultaneously on the BillboardHot 100 charts twice.] Akon has had four songs certified as 3x platinum, three songs certified as 2x platinum, more than ten songs certified as 1x platinum and more than ten songs certified as gold in digital sales. Akon has sung songs in other languages including Spanish and Hindi. He was listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the #1 selling artists for master ringtones in the world.









Akon was born in St. Louis, and spent much of his childhood in the West African country Senegal, which he describes as his "hometown." The child of a dancer mother and a percussionist father, Mor Thiam, Akon learned to play five instruments, including drums and guitar and djembe. At age 7, he moved with his family to Union City, New Jersey. splitting his time between the United States and Senegal until settling in Newark,City, New Jersey. Growing up in New Jersey, Akon had difficulties getting along with other children. When he and his older brother reached high school, his parents left them on their own in Jersey City and moved the rest of the family to Atlantic , Georgia













Akon claims that he has six children with three different women in an interview with Blender,all of whom he has great relationships with. He says he wishes to keep his family protected from the public eye. Akon is also a Muslim.


He also has his own charity for underprivileged children in Africa called Konfidence Foundation. Akon owns a diamond mine in South Africa and denies the existence of blood diamonds (also known as "conflict diamonds") saying, "I don't believe in conflict diamonds. That's just a movie. Think about it. Nobody thought or cared about conflict diamonds until 'Blood Diamond" was released." However, he has since stated that he does accept that blood diamonds exist, and that he is partial-owner of an African mine that is dedicated to avoiding use of blood diamonds while also donating profits to local communities.

By: Hubert Sha