Aliaune Thiam was born in St. Louis, Missouri, but he did not stay in America for too long before he moved to Senegal, a country on the western coast of Africa. Aliaune Thiam, who was known by a shorter nickname, Akon, moved back to the United States, this time to New Jersey, when he was seven years old. The shared time he spent between Africa and the United States (both the South and the North) would later become part of his musical style. The combination of cultures and artistic traditions had a lasting effect on the young man, who was already introduced to creating music by his father, Mor Thiam, a former jazz percussionist.While in New Jersey, Akon developed an interest in hip-hop music, specifically artists like Busta Rhymes, Mobb Deep, EPMD, 2Pac. He spent much of his teen years experimenting with writing music, singing and rapping in a home-made studio. After some unfortunate run-ins with the law, Akon got serious about his art and put together some of what would later become his first album, Trouble. Tracks like "Locked Up," "Ghetto," "Lonely," "Belly Dancer (Bananza)" and "Pot of Gold" allowed Trouble, which was released in 2004 by the label SRC/Universal, to sell quite well, although competition in the market insured that it made only a minor splash with the charts. Still, Akon's name and interesting style of music caught on with the hip-hop world, and it wasn't long before he was back in the recording studio, making more songs for his growing fan base.In 2006, after working with other popular hip-hop and pop artists on various singles, Akon's second album, Konvicted, took off in the charts. Fueled by the hit singles "Smack That" and "I Wanna Love You," Konvicted solidified Akon as a major player in the industry. Guest cameos on the album included the likes of Snoop Dogg and Eminem. Before the release of Konvicted, Akon worked with top recording artists on their projects. Gwen Stefani's radio-friendly single "The Sweet Escape" prominently displays Akon's signature howls. Fat Joe, T-Pain, and Sean Paul have also successfully blended Akon's smooth voice into their work.His musical style has hints of his African roots, but you can also find traces of Southern rap and R&B in Akon's songs. Make no mistake, Akon is an artist with a wide-reaching appeal who will be on the scene for a long time to come. Famous songs like "Smack That" and "Locked Up" are just the beginning for Akon.
