Akon is a household name and an icon for those who came of age in the 2000s. He has received five Grammy nominations. He propelled himself into the music industry with other major achievements, leaving fans and new listeners still humming.
The Missouri rapper has sold more than 35 million albums, all of which have charted on the Billboard 200. He has collaborated with Rick Ross, Snoop Dogg, and Eminem, among others. Nonetheless, this was not always his intended career path.
Akon stated that he entered the music industry almost by accident. His jazz musician father and ballerina mother ensured that he grew up surrounded by music. As a child, he was surrounded by entertainment, and he knew he desired fortune by any means necessary.
“Music was not something I aspired to do when I was younger; I fell into it by accident.”
In an exclusive interview with SK POP, Akon discussed his artistic influences, experience in the music business, and future musical endeavors.
Akon states that it was challenging to be different.
His sources of motivation and obstacles
The musician spoke with poise and eloquence about the people that inspired him and influenced his career, including Drake. He declared:
“I respect Bob Marley. I found Bob Marley’s philanthropic activities and ability to bring together his people and opposing African leaders for peace to be encouraging. This sort of thing. When I got to the United States, my interest in Hip-Hop and R&B increased. I am currently a huge Drake fan because I respect his musical direction and believe he has taken it to a whole new level.”
After collaborating on the song “Smack That” with Eminem, he was one of Akon’s top five favorite rappers, he explained. In 2007, both singers were nominated for Grammys for the song, which achieved double platinum status in the United States.
Difficulties and Profession Advancement
When questioned about the most challenging obstacle he faced in the music industry, Akon spoke eloquently about his struggles and how he remained unique, stating:
“Being different was a challenge in and of itself because the music industry has this unhealthy pattern of constantly supporting what’s worked in the past, and they very rarely try to break or invest in something new that they feel will be a risk, and the biggest challenge for me was that I was completely different from a completely different background, culture, and musically, I was on a different level.” Before considering a career as an artist, I focused significantly on writing and producing.
The Grammy-nominated singer also attacked the way in which music is delivered, asserting that anyone with the necessary abilities and tools can become an artist nowadays.
According to him, this has muddled the profession to the point where true talent is frequently “unheard or unrecognized.”
The only aspect of the music industry I would change is its accessibility. I believe that today, too many people have access to too many resources to become artists and celebrities. Consequently, the star quality is lowered.
Anyone may be an artist nowadays. A video can be recorded by anyone. The fact that anyone can release a record complicates and clogs the industry to the point that the things you want to uncover and the people with actual, genuine expertise go overlooked or unappreciated.”
As a result of this predicament, Akon continued, there aren’t many musicians left for people to look up to.
“Back in the day, there was a regulation as to who could become an artist and when, because they regulated the stuff, and you had to be incredibly talented to be noticed, recognized, or signed by a major label because they literally had A&R’s traveling the world looking for the best talent in your area.” Today, it doesn’t exist, which makes the music industry extremely tough to navigate, and there aren’t many people to look up to because there isn’t a great celebrity that you could aspire to be like.”
He underlined that the next famous artist maybe someone’s ProTools-savvy next-door neighbor. As a result, he was able to release an album from the comfort of his own residence.
Akon also mentioned his upcoming project during the interview,
“We’re releasing two of them.” Currently, One is accessible on all DSPs, including iTunes, Pandora, Apple Music, and Google Play. EP of Afrobeats music (Extended Play). It’s titled ‘Konvict Culture Presents,’ and inside I introduce a new Nigerian musician named T-Manny. It’s a mini-EP with four tracks to give people an idea of who he is and what he’s about. I am now featured on every track. My album will be released in the next months. I have a song titled Enjoy That that was just released last week.”
Akon has worked diligently in the music industry, and his albums have charted in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and the U.K. He has performed alongside T-Pain, Rihanna, Gwen Stefani, and Usher, four of the industry’s finest stars.
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