The artist who crooned on his last record about being locked up is breaking loose with his newest musical rebirth. Akon, whose latest album “Konvicted” dropped on Tuesday, is a self-proclaimed revolutionary trying to get the record straight about his music and his life goals.

Akon says he plans to work with children in his native Senegal and build schools to increase awareness and learning in Africa and around the world. This Oprah-like gesture is not something new to him, Akon says, but just a progression of goals that he has always had even before he got into the music game.

“I don’t want to feel like I’m preaching to people but I feel a need to talk about these issues in my music,” Akon says. “Music is becoming too much about money and not enough about the life issues that people deal with, that I dealt with before.”

His newest single and club track is called “Smack That” and features the talented and slightly dysfunctional rapper, Eminem. Although this track sings a different tune, in which Akon displays a more ladies-man politically-savvy musician, he says listeners will see through the bad boy front with a hearty buffet of more worldly songs on the new album.

“I felt like people already labelled me before I could really prove myself,” Akon says about his debut LP Trouble, released in June 2004. His debut turned out to be a mix of Akon’s high-pitched, yet raspy vocals, mixed in with East Coast production and melodic flavours of West-Africa.

Akon felt restricted by stereotypes from the beginning of his career. Now two years musically strong, Akon looks back at his beginnings and remembers feeling like he didn’t fit in.

“The R&B scene didn’t really know what to do with me at first,” Akon says. “My style wasn’t exactly what they expected.”

Soon after he hit the scene, people seemed to be digging Akon’s style even if they weren’t sure where to place him. A native of Dakar, Senegal, Akon moved to the United States when he was seven and nestled into New Jersey. Akon’s bad boy image didn’t materialize out of rumours alone — he had a few run-ins with the law before his big break, including being jailed for armed robbery and alleged drug charges. While in jail he honed his craft and racked up studio time as soon as he was released. Demo tapes fell in the laps of Universal music reps, and the rest was history.

Akon says he is all too familiar with the music industry now, and warns music hopefuls about industry people who may want to take advantage of new talent.

“Be careful about who you sign with; in the beginning you may just want to be big … you gotta make sure they are thinking about your talent and be patient,” Akon says. “Every label has its own genre and most people want to change artists to be what they sell.”

Akon seems to be turning over a new leaf by wearing as many hats as he can this time around. He’s trying to do right by his fellow artists with his own label, Konvict Music Records. He’s also making moves in Tinseltown, and is preparing for an autobiographical film, “Illegal Alien,” about his life experiences. The director of Three Six Mafia’s “Choices,” Gil Green, is says to be one of the top choices for this film, set to debut in late 2007.

“I’ve realized in this industry you have to make choices for yourself and capitalize on your talent,” Akon says. “No one will make those important decisions for you. You have to do what you love, and stick to your own style.”

For more info on Akon and his new release go to www.akononline.com






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