Aliaume Damala Badara Akon Thiam (born April 16, 1973), better known as Akon (/ˈeɪkɒn/), is an American singer, songwriter, businessman, record producer and actor of Senegalese descent. He rose to prominence in 2004 following the release of "Locked Up", the first single from his debut album Trouble.\n', '

He has since founded two successful record labels, Konvict Muzik and Kon Live Distribution. His second album, Konvicted received three nominations for the Grammy Awards in two categories, Best Contemporary R&B Album for Konvicted album and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Smack That" and "I Wanna Love You".\n', '

He is the first solo artist to hold both the number one and two spots simultaneously on the Billboard Hot 100 charts twice. Akon has had four songs certified as 3× platinum, three songs certified as 2× platinum, more than ten songs certified as 1× platinum and more than ten songs certified as gold in digital sales. Akon has sung songs in other languages including Tamil, Hindi, and Spanish. He was listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the #1 selling artist for master ringtones in the world.\n', '

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