Akon: Konvicted To Love

Section: Romance

By Kim Osorio, BET.com Staff

These days, there are few artists who are actually selling records. Despite heavy video rotation, and continuous radio play, it seems as though there are just a few standout celebrities actually puttin’ up real numbers. In that respect, Akon is a rare breed.

After just ten weeks on the charts, Akon is already certified platinum, selling an impressive 1.4 million albums of his sophomore release, Konvicted. The album, which has spawned the hits “Smack That” and “I Wanna Love You,” has not only earned a place at the top of the charts, but also a Grammy nod in the Best Rap/Sung collaboration category (for “Smack That” featuring Eminem). So what makes this West African singer so intriguing?

Well, despite the fact that late last year Akon claimed to be a man who was married to many women, his popularity amongst the female audience has only seemed to grow. In this exclusive BET.com interview, Akon says his confession actually made women more interested in him. So much for women who claim to be against polygamy. Guess it doesn’t matter as long as he loves you. Check out what Akon had to say about his music, his life, and his many many women.

BET.com: How is this album Konvicted different from the last?
Akon: It’s pretty much the same formula. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, I’m a firm believer in that. There’s a couple of topics that I didn’t get to attack on the first album that I got to attack on this album. It’s definitely a bigger growth for me as far as being an artist, as well as a producer and a songwriter. It’s the first album times three. I got a better idea of what the people would love to hear from me. I catered this album more towards what that was.

And speaking of your first album, surprisingly to many people, it sold extremely well.

Last album sold about four and a half million worldwide. But my first week, I only did 17,000. It’s all about the artist believing in yourself. The label can be a great machine, but sometimes they cater to certain types of music. So when you’re in a position where your music is totally different to what they’re used to working with, it’s like, the collaboration between the artist, the staff and the label all gotta be in sync, everybody gotta work together to make it a successful story. In our case, it took some time for us to get it to where we needed to go. We took it from 0 to 50, and the label came back and took it from 50 to 100.

Do you produce and write all of your own music?

Yeah. The whole album is produced by myself, I just recently signed new producers. One of them is Hakim from the Boys, he’s helping me to produce.

You’ve worked with a lot of people, particularly rap artists. Who do you have the best relationships with?

Obviously, Snoop, that’s my dude. That’s my Westside connect. Jeezy is my man. I love working with Jeezy. I never had a bad experience working with another artist. I’ve always had a good experience.

Let’s talk about your background and your upbringing.

I’m from West Africa. But I was born in St. Louis. My pops made sure we were all born in the States so we wouldn’t have problems going back and forth. He was offered a job playing percussion. He’s a jazz musician. That’s what pretty much brought us here. Shortly after birth, we were all sent back [to West Africa]. We came when I was about 7 or 8 to go to school in the States, and every summer we would go back home for vacation. After high school, I decided to stay, we all decided to stay. I was too accustomed to this lifestyle. I was definitely raised both in West Africa, but in the process of going to school, I was raised here as well.

Now it’s time to clear up something. Did your father have more than one wife?

No. Let me explain it. This is the problem with Black America, they take something and remix it. This is my personal experiences. They’re going around saying Africans [have more than one wife based off of] something I said [on a radio show]. All Africans don’t do it. A lot of times, it’s a religious belief. I can literally say a lot of guys do it without getting married. [I said what I said to have an] open discussion. It just went to a whole other level, and then it started affecting other people’s lives. Honestly, I didn’t mean for it to blow like it blew. But I should have known better.

We’re talking about polygamy, right?

We’re just talking about guys with more than one woman, in general. In actuality, I’m not speaking on behalf of all Africans, and I’m not speaking on behalf of all men. I feel like this, whenever [you bring that topic up], you open up the conversation for us to [have] that discussion, period. ‘Cause that’s pretty much the biggest problem [men and women] have, ain’t it? I’m in a position where I was dating more than one woman, but I was honest about it. And I would tell her, ‘Look, this is my situation. This is what I got at home. This is what I got on the side. And give her the respect and opportunity to be able to choose, ‘Okay, this is the package that comes with him if I decide to deal with him.’ Now, she can choose to do it or say, ‘You know what, I’m glad he gave me the decision, I think I’ll do without.’

How many women do you have?

That’s too personal. I don’t want to take it to a point where it’s too far out there so if I was to go and constantly promote that, what does that do? If I was to go and promote this on every radio station, then it’s gonna look like I’m out there promoting polygamy, when that’s not the case. I’m just being real. I’m being honest as possible. I’ve always been that kind of person. But when I get to a point where I feel like it’s destroying other people’s lives, then it’s a responsibility I got to contain. I have other friends that do believe in that, and it’s affecting their families now. I don’t want it to be, like, where Africans are even looking at me in a different way. ‘Cause if I’m speaking on behalf of them, and I’m misrepresenting them, and they’re my biggest supporters, the last thing I want to do is lose the respect of Africans. So I must apologize for speaking on behalf of certain situations where it might have come out wrong. But you know that’s a part of the media. It happens. At the end of the day, I would like to clear up a situation. I should have never brought that out in the public, because it ended up being a big big issue.

So why did you bring it up?

It felt good at the moment. It was like, you know, I was gonna give them something to talk about. It opened up the discussion. It opened up a door that normally wouldn’t have been open for people just to communicate. So that was the main purpose.
Everybody is doing it. You know how many dudes got mad women? Honestly, as men sometimes, we can be selfish.

So now, what if a woman said something like that, if that was her position?

You can’t control that. Who are you to say that ‘I can do it, but you can’t.’

What if she’s doing a different guy every night of the week, and you’re Thursdays?

I don’t judge her based on that. It’s her life. But if I’m involved, I’m gon’ take all week. I’m gonna represent. I’m gonna do what I do.

Are you married?

I’m not about to get into my personal life. I made that mistake once. You gotta do your research. When I go to accept that Grammy, I’ll have my family, my real family, with me. It may be what I said, it may not be. But the reality show is comin’ soon so lookout for it!

Do you want to give a special shout out to your boo, or one of your boos?
(Laughs). I would never put nobody in the line of fire.

Do you have your eyes any females out there? Maybe celebrities in the game?

Well, my eyes are always out. You’re gonna get me in trouble.

What do you think about Akon's perspective on relationships? Is it okay to date more than one woman as long as he's honest about it? Click DISCUSS NOW and talk about it!