Let’s Talk with Akon

Chances are you will be hard pressed not to hear an Akon song on the radio at any given moment. The hip hop/R&B singer-songwriter and Grammy nominated record producer has literally been everywhere over the course of the last three years. Aside from his solo albums, Trouble and Konvicted, superstars such as Young Jeezy, Eminem, Gwen Stefani, and Snoop Dogg have reached out for his musical expertise. Now with a third solo album under his belt (the recently released Freedom), Akon is taking radio waves by storm. Being a successful artist, producer, label owner, and entrepreneur, Akon is extremely difficult to get a hold of. So when Akon‘s label, SRC Records, asked me if I wanted an interview I simply could not refuse. Here’s what went down…

Kevin: First of all, thanks a lot for taking time out to chat with us and congratulations on the release of your new album! The name of the new album is Freedom. Can you tell us a little bit of the concept behind this album? I read somewhere that the original title was supposed to be Acquitted. Can you expand on that?

Akon: Absolutely. We wanted to give a more positive outlook on the record and on the title more so than anything. Just kinda refurbish the image of Konvict on a positive side, because somewhere along the lines it got misinterpreted. [People were] Thinking that we were glorifying jail life, gangsta, and street… all the negative aspects of what [the word] konvict would represent normally. We changed the name from Acquitted because Freedom means the same exact thing as acquitted. Only difference is Freedom is a lot more positive, a lot more global. You can take that anywhere and everyone has a definition of what Freedom means to them.

Kevin: You’ve been pretty busy since releasing your last album Konvicted in 2006. How long did it actually take to put Freedom together? Are you happy with how it turned out?

Akon: I’m extremely happy with Freedom and how it turned out. It didn’t really take me much to put it together. We didn’t even really time it; the whole album was done while I was on tour, you know as I was roaming through Europe, Africa, Asia, on the international run. That whole album was being developed as we moved, so there really wasn’t like a deadline. It was more like vibin’ out… records that we loved, we did them at that moment, spur of the moment. We just put them all together to create this package.

Kevin: I heard about a duet you had with Michael Jackson that was supposed to be on the album, but wasn’t included in the final release. What happened with that song?

Akon: “Hold My Hand” was the record I did with M.J. And unfortunately it got leaked over the Internet. What ended up happening was it took away from the whole presentation of the record. We wanted it to be something special being the fact that it was a comeback record. It was my biggest collaboration ever. We wanted that movement to be special, we wanted people to be able to feel the energy. And when the record got leaked, it took away the excitement; it took away the set up. We just kinda backed off to see how things would move; if the record would get overly popular, would we get behind it. There was always the situation where we was trying to decide what we were gonna do with it, but for me personally I wanted it to be a little more special. Everyone had already heard it at that point so I felt there was really no purpose to put it on the record.

Kevin: Your remix of “Wanna Be Startin’ Something” was a refreshing take on the original. Your production style seems to really bring out the best of Michael. Rumor has it that you are working with him on his comeback album. Any truth to that?

Akon: Um, of course Mike is probably working on something very special. I can’t get into full detail exactly what is going on with the project. And that’s just more so that we can have the leverage this time without stuff getting leaked around. But um, just be looking for something later in the future…. I just can’t tell you when. [laughs]

Kevin: Fair enough… You seem to have been the “to go” hook guy for the last couple of years, producing tracks for Young Jeezy, Snoop Dogg, and Gwen Stefani amongst others. Which collaboration are you most proud of and how do most of those collaborations come about?

Akon: I’m proud of all my collabs. I only do records with people I admire and support. Everybody I’ve worked with has just been incredible. I’ve been a fan of everybody I’ve worked with to a degree. The majority of the time when it comes about differently, depends on who it is. A lot of times it’s just the relationship. They may need a record they feel like is missing from the album, They’ll call me for me to come up with it or they may just want me to be a part of the album. Or sometimes I may be recording something that I feel like fits that artist and I may give that artist a call and be like, “yo I got a record that’s crazy for your album.” So you know, it depends. Sometimes we’ll just meet at a party and be like, “yo we gotta get up, we gotta link”, then we’ll follow through and make it happen. It happens in different ways as far as the collaboration side of things.

Kevin: Not many people know that one of your earliest appearances to a wide audience was on The Fugees album, The Score. It would be dope if you can explain how all of that came about, and your brief cameo on the album.

Akon: Absolutely. The Fugees, the whole Refugee Camp is my original family. It’s where I started, it’s where I began. That’s where motivation for me came from, you know. We all started in Jersey, Jersey City. They were in Newark, Clinton, right in East Orange- where we all recorded at the Booga Basement, hung out and came up with ideas. That was like the place of molding for all of us, you know. I moved off to Atlanta at the time they were doing the album. Everybody was in there writing and I did a brief acapella for something and Clef thought it would be great for the “Fu-Gee-La” remix. So, he had me come in and do it, it was “Call Mr. Martin,” and that was just to kind of keep me involved in what was going on at the time because my mind wasn’t really heavily into music. You know, this was just more motivation for me to focus on what it is what I really wanted to do, you know. That’s why it was so brief [laughs]. In and out baby, stick and move.

Kevin: One of our writers is from Toronto, so naturally, he wanted to ask about an artist on your label — Kardinal Offishall. What made you sign him to Kon Live and what stood out about him? In Toronto, he’s infamous for his Canadian patriotism, does he bring that to the US with him?

Akon: Absolutely. Kardinal, no matter where he goes he represents the T Dot to the fullest. He’s always been a straight Canadian representative, Jamaican-Canadian. Like, a hardcore T Dot representative, and he does that in the shows wherever he goes worldwide. That’s one of the things I respect about him, you know, the fact that he kept his hometown on his back and always represented to the fullest. Outside him being an underground artist and doing big things on the underground level, he managed to be able to cross it over and still have his underground credibility, which is hard for any artist to do, you know. That just goes with a lot of hard work and maintaining your self esteem and understanding who you are as a person and I think Kardi is very aware of that.

Kevin: Another artist that you are compared to a lot, is fellow label mate, T-Pain. He was actually the first artist you signed to Konvict Music, right? How do you deal with these comparisons and do you see them yourself? Is there any competition at all between you and T-Pain?

Akon: Within me and T-Pain? Far from competition. Anything I can do to make sure that he precedes me, I do that. My goal was always to make sure any artist attached to me was larger than me. That’s why we put all of our energy into Pain the way we do it; allow him to grow and be his own man and to build his own empire from [Digital record label] Nappy Boy to everything else that he’s doing. It’s always been a situation where, you know, I never pigeon-held any of the artist that were signed to Konvict. I want them to be able to expand, grow out, become their own person, you know, have your own identity. That’s why I never hugged over him or stamped him so hard to a point where you get him and the brand mixed up, you know. But, I’ve been extremely proud of him for what he’s accomplished to this point, what he’s going through and what he’s about to do. I mean, it’s incredible to have him be the first artist, and represent the Konvict movement as thoroughly as he did. It’s a proud moment for anybody to have an artist, any record company to have an artist like T-Pain who’s probably representing and doing his thing to a level to where we could proudly say he’s a Konvict artist. There’s definitely no competition whatsoever; it’s our sound. This is what we do; we just blend it out for everybody else to enjoy it as well.

Kevin: In doing some research for the interview I came across that your father is a famed musician Mor Thiam; can you elaborate on how growing up in a household filled with music has influenced your current style of music and producing? What musical instruments do you play?

Akon: Well, growing up with my pop being a Jazz musician and percussionist from Africa I think helped me out in a lot of different ways. More so, in a way to where, I was lucky and had the advantage to be someone who was exposed to both cultures, you know, the African culture and the American culture. Because of that, I can use both cultures, both sounds, both melodies and both, you know, experiences, and combine them into one. I think that’s what helped my style, in a lot of different ways, to be so different, so, you know, abstract. I definitely look at it more as a blessing and an advantage, if anything.

Kevin: You’ve sold millions of records worldwide, have millions of fans, what keeps you going in this music business? Is there anything in your career that you hope to achieve that you can not conquered yet?

Akon: As far as achievements in my career I’m happy with everything I’ve achieved so far. I think I’ve achieved way more than I expected. What keeps me really going though is just the fact that the fans out there support and love what I’m doing… they love what the Konvict movement is doing. So, I just want to continue to give them what they’re looking for. Continue to stamp the music that we’re doing, stand behind it, make sure the music is quality if we’re behind or have anything to do with it. More so anything just be able to travel, explore, experience and be apart of just new develop when it comes to music itself.

Kevin: What’s on your ipod right now? Any new artists that you think has the the potential to have longevity in this business?

Akon: The only thing on my iPod right now is all Konvict Music. I can’t remember the last time I played anything outside of what we’re already doing. And that’s mainly because I haven’t had time to really explore outside of what we’ve been creating. You know we have so much going on with all these acts from T-Pain, [Lady] GaGa, to Colby [O'Donis] , to Kardinal, to myself, you know to Tami Chynn. I mean just…we have a lot of records of our own that we are developing, creating…you know. More so you know just try to create and mode our own sound. That we haven’t had time to really jump out on anything and be influence by anything outside of what we’re already been doing. But, it’s just been, I mean a blessing period to have enough material to where you don’t gotta go outside and search for new material. But it only helps us to motivates us to create and bring out new material to be able to expand on.

Kevin: What’s next after Freedom? Are you working on anything new? Any new collabos with other artists?

Akon: After Freedom it’ll be the next album. I haven’t titled it yet, but it’s definitely coming soon. We’re looking towards a tour in 2009 that we looking to put together. We’re cultivating dates as we speak. But, it’s definitely going to be a worldwide tour. Outside of that we just launched Konvict clothing which will be in stores everywhere come the top of the year. You know we have Aliaune which is the more upscale line that should be dropping 2009 that we’ll be actually showcasing and presenting and launching as well. Outside of that just look forward to all the new Kon Live acts that’s coming, you know our Konvict Entertainment acts that’s coming. The new collaborations. I mean we have got a hand full for you for 2009. So just look out for everything we got going on.

Kevin: Sounds great! Thanks once again for hanging with us; it has been a real honor. Good luck with the album and feel free to stop by the site anytime! Do you have any closing words of wisdom for us or any of the artists/producers on our site?

Akon: For the artist coming up you know I think the key is to just stay focus. Stay focused stay very consistent, don’t give up too early. You gotta believe in yourself more than the people supporting you. You know sometime you have a lot of talent you based your talent more on everything. Sometime you lose focus on how much work has to be put into it. You know the talent and work ethic has to be balanced. Like you have to have just as much talent as you have work ethic. It has to be balance for it actually probably work because if you don’t put in the work then the people that supporting and doing what they doing. You know they just there sitting around in vain. It’s not really benefiting yourself. You almost have to meet them half way. But more so don’t give up. Because everybody has their time. It’s a million people trying to get in. It’s only room for one person at the number one spot. You gotta be patient enough to believe in yourself enough to work hard enough to make it happen. And that’s all I can really tell you man you gotta keep going. Can’t stop.

• Konvict Online

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