If you’ve even turned on your radio within the last year then there is no way
you could not of heard Akon singing the chorus to at least one
song if not three different songs on your dial. Akon is hip-hop’s preeminent R&B
singer/rapper- the same man who gave you the hooks to Young Jeezy’s
"Soul Survivor" and Obie Trice‘s "Snitch".
Now he’s got a hit song out with Eminem titled “Smack
That” as well as another hit single out with Snoop Dogg
called” I Wanna Love You”. Without any hesitation one could definitely
say of this former convict- that this is the year of Akon!

24/ACCESS: So have you had run in with the cops lately?
AKON: When I first got this car I’d get pulled over all the time, but the
Atlanta police recognized me and let me off with a warning if I gave them an
autograph. Now the entire police department knows this car belongs to me and
I don’t get pulled over so much. You know what’s crazy? They play my song "Locked
Up" in their cars when they pick kids up and are taking them to jail. The
police told me that the song is the police department’s anthem. It doesn’t get
realer than that.

24/ACCESS: You have quite a history with cars. Tell us what happened
that night you got caught and went to jail.
AKON: I was driving a BMW 325, on my way to the chop shop. That’s the slowest
car in the whole fleet, the BMW 325. I’d been in high-speed pursuit before and
always got away, but this time I didn’t because the car was too slow. I didn’t
even want that car, it was a favor to someone else. And I wound up getting locked
up for three years. I started the car-stealing hustle when I lived in Jersey,
but then I brought it down to Atlanta because the entertainers were here, the
athletes were here, the musicians were here, the cars that people wanted were
here. I was very good at what I did.

24/ACCESS: You moved to the United States from Senegal when you were
seven. What was the most difficult part of that transition?
AKON: The language barrier. Learning to speak English. Nobody in the U.S.
really speaks French. Well, not in New Jersey!

24/ACCESS: So you and Snoop have a hit single out now together…tell
me did you guys smo… I mean …uh… do anything else with your time
together?
AKON: [Laughs] I’ll tell you what. Snoop did a concert recently in Lagos,
Nigeria. He called me up, like, "Help man, I need to get me some weed!"
And I had to explain to him that in Nigeria they don’t smoke weed like he’s
used to. In Africa the weed comes straight from the tree, then you put it on
your roof to dry it before you smoke. What Snoop is used to is that American
weed where they put chemicals in it, suddenly it’s growing purple hairs and
you take one puff and your head comes off. In Africa it’s truly a mellow thing.

24/ACCESS: Is there somebody out there who you have a great deal of
respect for that some people might not know?
AKON: Phil Collins. I love Phil Collins. "In The Air Tonight"
is an incredible song. I hope to work with Phil. He’s got an amazing vocal tone.
His vocal tone makes me cry.

24/ACCESS: Is there a Muslim or Senegalese proverb that you choose
to live by?
AKON: It’s a universal proverb: Do unto others as you would have them do
unto you. When I was stealing cars I used to think, "If I stole your car
it’s because you did something bad and it’s coming back to you. If I can’t get
this car, it’s because God doesn’t want me to have it because this is a good
person." If I wanted to steal a car and took it, no problem, I figured
it was because this person who owned it had done wrong and God was letting me
steal their car as retribution. That’s absolutely ludicrous! It’s ridiculous.
[Laughs] But that’s how I thought at the time.