Akon

Although he was born in St. Louis, MO, Aliaune Thiam - aka Akon - grew up in Senegal before he and his family (including his father, jazz percussionist Mor Thiam) returned to the United States and settled in New Jersey when he was seven. There he discovered hip-hop for the first time, as well as crime. He was eventually jailed but he used the time - three years, he claimed - to work on his musical ideas. Upon release, Akon began writing and recording tracks in a home studio. The tapes found their way to SRC/Universal, which eventually released Trouble, Akon's debut LP, in June 2004. The album was an interesting hybrid of Akon's silky, West African-styled vocals with East Coast- and Southern-styled beats. The success of the song "Locked Up," a Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 hit, made Akon a star and desired collaborator.

After appearing on Young Jeezy's "Soul Survivor," his number of guest appearances seemed to multiply each month. Konvicted, his second album, was released in November 2006. Soon enough, two of the album's singles, "I Wanna Love You" and "Smack That," made their way to the upper regions of the Billboard charts. The surprisingly Europop-flavored Freedom, his third album, followed two years later, and it repeated Konvicted's chart success by peaking within the Top Ten of the Billboard 200. Akon subsequently maintained a relatively low profile but resurfaced in November 2010 with Akonic.

"Angel" is the lead single by Akon from his upcoming fourth studio album, Stadium. The song was written by Akon, David Guetta and Sandy Wilhelm, and it was produced by David Guetta and Sandy Vee. The single was released to U.S. Mainstream Radios on September 14, 2010, before being released as a digital download on September 17, 2010. The single was released via worldwide digital download on November 7, 2010. The song peaked at number fifty-six on Billboard Hot 100.] Akon performed the song during the 2010 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. This song was also in the Victoria Secret 2011 Secret Angels commercial. Akon travelled to Jamaica to work with Damian, Julian & Stephen Marley. Stadium will be released on September 11, 2012.

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