Akon

Akon
Akon in 2019
Born	Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam[1] (1973-04-16) April 16, 1973 (age 51) St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Other names	A-Kon El Negreeto
Citizenship	United States Senegal
Occupations	Singer songwriter record producer businessman philanthropist
Years active	1996–present
Organization	Akon Lighting Africa
Works	Discography filmography production
Children	9[2]
Parent	Mor Thiam (father)
Awards	Full list
Musical career
Origin	Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
Genres	R&B hip hop pop dance-pop[3]
Labels	Akonik BMG Atlantic Konvict KonLive Republic Universal Motown Universal Records SRC UpFront
Website	akon.com
Musical artist

Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam (born April 16, 1973), known mononymously as Akon (/ˈeɪkɒn/), is a Senegalese-American singer, songwriter, record producer, businessman, and philanthropist. An influential figure in modern world music, he rose to prominence in 2004 following the release of his debut single "Locked Up" (featuring Styles P). Styled in hip hop, it preceded the release of his debut studio album Trouble (2004), which became his commercial breakthrough and spawned the R&B-styled follow-up, "Lonely" the following year.

His second album, Konvicted (2006) was met with continued success and yielded a Grammy Award nomination for Best Contemporary R&B Album, while its lead singles: "I Wanna Love You" (featuring Snoop Dogg) and "Smack That" (featuring Eminem) both received nominations for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. The songs peaked at numbers one and two on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively, along with two of his singles released the following year: "Don't Matter" and his guest performance on Gwen Stefani's "The Sweet Escape"; this made Akon the first solo artist to concurrently hold the top two positions on the chart twice.^[4][5] His third album, Freedom (2008) was supported by the top ten lead single, "Right Now (Na Na Na)". His fourth album, El Negreeto (2019) explored reggaeton and Latin music.

Along with his solo career, Akon has guest performed on 23 Billboard Hot 100 entries for other artists—such activity earned him two additional Grammy Award nominations. Akon founded the record labels Konvict Muzik in 2004 and KonLive Distribution in 2007, through which he has signed commercially successful acts including Lady Gaga, T-Pain, R. City, Kardinal Offishall, Jeffree Star and French Montana, among others. In addition, he holds a separate career in production and songwriting predominantly for artists on the labels, but also for other mainstream artists including Michael Jackson, Snoop Dogg, Lionel Richie, Leona Lewis, Sean Paul, Whitney Houston, Mario, and Estelle, among others.

Akon has since been prolific in charitable and philanthropic endeavors. He launched the non-profit Akon Lighting Africa in 2014, and has began development on his own city in Senegal, which is scheduled for competition in 2028. Forbes ranked Akon 80th (Power Rank) in the Forbes Celebrity 100 in 2010^[6] and 5th in the 40 Most Powerful Celebrities in Africa list, in 2011.^[7] Billboard ranked Akon No. 6 on the list of Top Digital Songs Artists of the decade.^[8] He was listed by Guinness World Records as the number-one selling artist for master ringtones in the world, with 11 million sold by December 2007.^[9]