AKON

Although Akon was born in the United States, he spent his younger years split between Senegal and America until finally settling with his family in Jersey City, New Jersey, at the age of fifteen. While living in New Jersey, Akon found himself in trouble, which resulted in jailtime. It was there Akon realized his love and passion for music.

In June 2004, Akon's first album Trouble debuted. Trouble featured the hits "Lonely" and "Locked Up" which were inspired by Akon's time in jail. "Lonely" reached the top five on the Billboard Top 100 and "Locked Up" reached the top 10 in the U.S. and the top 5 in the UK. Akon has also collaborated with hip hop artists Snoop Dogg and Eminem. "Smack That" featured Eminem and was nominated for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards. While proving himself as a successful hip hop artist, Akon also started his own record labels, Konvict Muzic and Kon Live Distribution. He also produced Gwen Stefani's song "The Sweet Escape" and was featured on her album.

Young Hollywood caught up with Akon at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, and heard from pal Ludacris about what a hard working artist he is! With his fast growing success, we are sure to be seeing a lot of great things in the future from this creative singer/songwriter/producer!

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