Akon's shimmering, soulful voice has propelled countless hits across genres ranging from pop and R&B to hip-hop and dance. In addition to his own chart­‐dominating singles “Smack That” and “I Wanna Love You,” he’s made over 300 guest appearances for icons including Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga, Gwen Stefani, Lil Wayne, and Eminem.

With over 35 million albums sold worldwide and five Grammy Award nominations, he’s simply unstoppable. Akon's single “Locked Up” from his 2004 debut album, Trouble, made him a household name, and then Konvicted led to global superstardom.

In the aftermath of the latter’s 2007 release, Akon garnered the American Music Award for Favorite R&B Male Artist, Teen Choice Award for Breakout Male Artist, three World Music Awards in the categories of Best Selling R&B Male Artist, Best Selling African Artist and Best Selling Internet Artist, and the Billboard Music Award for Artist of the Year.

He was listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the #1 selling artists for master ringtones in the world and became the first solo artist in history to lock down both the #1 and #2 spots on the Billboard Hot 100.

Never content to rest on his laurels, he was the visionary behind not one but two thriving record labels KonLive and Konvict. The imprints jumpstarted the careers of both Lady Gaga and T-Pain, with Akon recognizing their talent early on, producing, and collaborating with them.

Expanding further into other realms, Akon was recognized on Forbes Magazine’s Celebrity 100 list in 2010, and Pepsi chose him to produce and record “Oh Africa” for the 2010 World Cup. For the first time in history, the event took place in Africa, the continent on which the artist was born.

With a heart even bigger than his resume, Akon also created The Konfidence Foundation, a youth-­centric charity that benefits underserved children in Africa and the U.S. Everything he does is emblematic of his passion.

In 2012, Akon made his acting debut in Jeta Amata’s stirring motion picture Black November alongside a stellar cast including Mickey Rourke, Kim Basinger, Anne Heche, and Vivica A. Fox. Most recently, he landed his first major movie role and will appear with costars Adrien Brody, Hayden Christensen, and Jordana Brewster in the upcoming indie action thriller American Heist, a remake of the 1959 Steve McQueen movie The Great St Louis Bank Robbery.

In February 2014, Akon launched an initiative, Akon Lighting Africa, to bring electricity to households in Africa. So far, Akon said in an interview, Akon Lighting Africa has reached 100,000 households and installed 13,000 streetlights.