Akon has been a busy man.The legendary hitmaker Akon now returns to his roots – music. However he ‘s doing things differently than he did when he made his splash debut nearly two decades ago.
Akon has been no stranger to innovation but now he’s taking his risk-taking and maverick ways to new levels. First of all, his new EP is being released with the TikTok app generation in mind. “A lot of my old music has trended on the app so I decided why not just do an album just for it,” he explains in this exclusive interview.
Beyond the new vibes, he has been plotting Akon City in Africa and his own cryptocurrency, Akoin. He talks about his current relationship with former artists T-Pain and Lady Gaga after, his fresh new single and his plans to continue bridging the gap with other genres worldwide. Check it out.
On his new single “Enjoy That”
Yeah. The new single is called “Enjoy That.” This is where I’m at today. I just wanted to just have fun with it, man. Yeah, music is at a level now, it’s like my legacy’s sealed. Investments are intact. Philanthropy is moving the way it needs to move. Now I don’t have to spend too much time outside of music, so now everything is kind of turnkey. I wanted to come back into the business, just have fun with it.
Why he did an album just for TikTok
My catalog has been just killing TikTok, man, the last year all throughout the pandemic. It’s been just crazy and it gave me the idea. I was like, man, you know what? Now that I got the younger generation’s ears and feet, let me put out an EP, but just specifically for the TikTok platform. I reached out to TikTok. I did the album first. I did the EP first, then I went to TikTok with it, went to the main headquarters, played it for them and gave them the concept of what I wanted to do. Man, they went crazy. Like, “Oh this will be amazing,” so the idea is to put out a TikTok EP specifically for TikTok, and as it blows up on the platform, we’re going to break it out to the rest of the world.
Why TikTok is just another “platform” and not an evil in music.
This is the thing. A hit record is a hit record. TikTok is just a platform that helps to propel great songs. In this particular thing, I’m a writer producer, so I always find ways to tailor-make things. Me understanding and studying the TikTok platform, I know exactly the kind of music that actually works on the platform, so I tailor-made these records specifically for TikTok.
How he has morphed Konvict Music into Konvict Kulture in 2022.
We’re rebranding Konvict Music now to Konvict Kulture, because we realize that Konvict globally, if you don’t really travel outside of America, you wouldn’t understand how big Konvict is. I was shocked. It’s so much way bigger than me that … It’s to the point where I was like, man, this is a movement. This is a culture for real. Ultimately, and then Konvict spread it outside of hip hop and went into pop music, went into Afrobeat, went into reggae, went into Reggaeton. If you know all these artists from the Latin world all the way down, you name it, all extensions from the Konvict Music Family.
Why he continues to smile and be happy as much as he can.
The most humble people are the ones that went through the craziest s###. The n##### I know that is real killers, bro, most of them are preachers today. These are preachers bro. They want to be so far away from that as possible, but at the same time, it also shows that you appreciate the life that God has given us. We’ve been in a … My story could have turned around for the worst. It was a decision, one split decision that I decided to make to change my life, but had I decided to live in the same path, I probably wouldn’t be talking to you today.
That’s why I’m always happy. I smile in every single picture. You ain’t going to find a picture without me not smiling, because I’m happy to just be here.