After making platinum success with his first album, Trouble, Akon is back and is already burning up the charts with his first single "Smack That" featuring Eminem on his just released new album Konvicted.
The 25-year-old artist no longer has the time to do the time (prison: 3 years) as he pursues his busy life of singing, songwriting, producing, inspiring Slim Shady to come out of rap retirement, writing on a film based on his life (with 8 Mile's Mekhi Phifer playing him), and having the top-rated site on myspace.com.
"Eminem was the only white boy to come into the rap game and take it over," he has said of the collaboration on the album. "And I'm the first one from Africa to come in and take it over."
Akon was born in St. Louis and raised in Senegal before his family moved to New Jersey, where he fell in love with hip-hop, and crime. He was jailed for convictions relating to stolen cars, but used his time behind bars to work on Trouble, which was released in 2004. Now Akon calls prison, "a blessing. It changed me. I had so much time to evaluate what I was doing and thinking." In fact, his hit single from the album was "Locked Up."
"Smack That" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at number 95 then jumped 88 positions to appear at number 7 the following week - a new record for the Billboard charts.
Comments
i love the song smack that so so so so so much....akon is a wonderful singer so is eminem.............
Posted by: cassie | December 2, 2006 2:24 AM