March 19, 2007 @ 3:55 pm
AKON: The Last Hit Maker
No R&B artist has more influence on today's pop music than Akon. Laura Checkoway goes in.
"Bend... over, look back, and watch me," Akon commands, his hands too busy slapping ass to wipe the sweat from his brow. "Smack that," he sings with a smile, "Til you get sore." It's past midnight in Park City, Utah, and icy outside, but inside Harry O's nighclub, it's sticky, and Akon is onstage living some strange version of the American Dream. Party girl/actress Tara Reid's legs are wrapped around his waist, and they're both gyrating to his No. 1 pop hit "Smack Thhat" in front of a sold-out, mostly white Sundance Film Festival-attending crowd. The track that's causing all the commotion, a repetitive, unabashed tribute to ass-smacking (which features Eminem) broke the Billboard Hot 100 record in October for the largest one-week climb in the chart's 48-year history. The "Smack That" ring tone went platinum faster than almost any other since the Recording Industry Association of America began certifying them in 2004. That's a whole lot of booty-slapping.
Akon hates the cold, but weather conditions don't much matter to him anymore. Though the temperature is subzero in the Wasatch Mountains, it's almost 80 degrees in Dakar, Senegal, where Akon was named a "Youth Ambassador" in 2005. It's in the low 50s in Atlanta, where Akon's four sons and possibly more than one wife (more on that later) make their residence. But Akon really only makes it home for the holidays. These days he's busier than ever promoting the year's biggest pop/R&B sneak-attack, Konvicted (Upfront/Konvict/SRC/Universal). After the unexpected success of his pensive, three-million-selling debut, 2004's Trouble (SRC/Universal), Akon enhanced his sophomore release with A-list rap cameos, but he saved a bunch of money on production costs, laying all but one track himself - the most popular, most aggravating, Eminem-produced "Smack That."
To read more of Akon's cover story, cop VIBE's April 2007 issue, on stands now. For excerpts and outtakes from this exclusive interview with Akon, hit up writer Laura Checkoway's blog!
Previous: Touch The SkyPage printed from:
http://www.vibe.com/news/cover_stories/2007/03/vibe_april_07_cover/
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