MTV Arabia, the region’s first Arabic free-to-air youth entertainment and lifestyle channel, will accompany AKON, the soul superstar, to the Urban Desert Event on April 18 in Dubai festival city.This will be Akon’s second visit to the Middle East—he first performed at the MTV Arabia launch ceremony in November 2007.

The channel offers viewers a chance to “meet and greet” with Akon and FAT JOE, which will be recorded and broadcast on the MTV Arabia screen. They will also have the chance to win free tickets.

“MTV aims to provide opportunities for young Arabs to be at the heart of these major events—we are a media window for the young generation, both in terms of presenting different global cultures in one media space, and allowing them to express their ambitions and aspirations through the MTV Arabia platform,” said Samir Al Marzouki, the Channel Manager of MTV Arab Arabia.

Participants must send a short text message to 2334 (Etisalat) or 4326 (du) with the words “Meet And Greet.” Winners will be selected at random on 16 April.

For more details about the MTV Arabia competition, and for the list of code numbers for participation from the rest of the Arab countries, please visit the Web site www.mtva.com.

It’s always nice to listen to music by Akon because you will surely find a song that will be perfect with your feelings at that moment. Akon started his big international debut in 2004 with many hit singles like Lonely, Pot of Gold, Ghetto, Locked Up and Belly Dancer. In his hit single Locked Up his experience of the auto theft and his subsequent jail sentence can be felt. The song reached to the top ten in US and the top five in UK. The song Ghetto became a radio hit when this song was remixed by Green Lantern and verses from other rappers like The Notorious B.I.G and 2Pac. Another single Lonely was released in 2005 and this song reached the top 5 in Billboard Hot 100 and was a chart topper in UK, Australia and Germany. You could download mp3 songs from Akon and enjoy each minute of his music.

A couple of years later, in 2006, his new album Konvicted was released. Eminem features in the song Smack That and this is one of the most played songs in the album. Snoop Dog features in the song I Wanna Love You and just as the title suggest this is a love song. Mama Africa is another warm song which features in the album and anyone who has been associated with Africa in anyway will surely love this song. Akon’s Konvicted made its debut at number 2 in Billboard 200. The album sold more then 280,000 copies in the first week itself. The album continued to be at the top of the Billboard 200 for more then 25 weeks.

Akon will also start his acting career and he will play in a movie based on some of the events in his life. If you want to watch more videos with Akon and a lot more artists you should go to: http://www.videoszoom.com/

R&B star Akon has signed a deal to write a book based on his life. Thug Politics will be released by TRU Publishing, which is owned by fellow rapper C-Murder. It is expected to hit shelves in April or May.

A movie version of Akon’s life story entitled Illegal Alien is also rumoured to be in the works, with ER star Mekhi Phifer the favourite to play the lead.

Akon, real name Alioune Badara Thiam, rose to fame in 2004 with hit single ‘Locked Up’ from his debut album Trouble. He was born in Senegal and made a permanent move to the US at the age of 15. The 35-year-old was caught up in controversy last month after fans started a riot in a shopping centre.

DJ phones famous friend to rescue deal (TheTimes - South Africa) Metro FM DJ Tbo Touch roped in the help of his mate, the award-winning Senegalese soul singer, Akon, to sort out the mess caused by a phoney US agent.

Tbo Touch, 26, whose real name is Thabo Molefe, was trying to bring R&B sensation Joe Thomas to South Africa to collaborate with local artists.

He claimed he was conned by a US “agent” who took more than R400000 from him to facilitate the trip . But, after paying the money, Tbo Touch heard nothing from the agent again.

Tbo Touch then contacted Akon — known for hits such as Smack That and Don’t Matter — who contacted Thomas’s managers and arranged the upcoming trip. Tbo Touch said he has since instructed a US attorney to recover the money.

An upside to the drama surrounding Thomas’s trip down south is that Akon will be coming to South Africa too, said Tbo Touch.

The paperwork has been signed and Akon will travel here with Thomas in May.

Akon is set to perform, while Thomas will do a studio recording with an artist yet to be named.

Tbo Touch and Akon are partners in a South African business venture called Konvict Muzik SA, which facilitates collaborations between international and local musicians.

Last year, Akon walked off with the American Music Award for favourite soul/R&B male artist. He also received three World Music Awards, including one for the world’s bestselling R&B artist.

The son of Senegalese percussionist Mor Thiam, Akon has collaborated with, among others, Wyclef Jean on his recently released album, Memoirs of an Immigrant.

Akon says his new album is called Acquitted and he is aiming to have it out the first week of May. The R&B singer/producer is hoping that Michael Jackson can cameo on the lead single, and MTV News reports that while MJ has recorded his part, legal barriers are holding up his official involvement with the song. Akon even says he is already thinking about his next album. “My fourth album is called Double Jeopardy,” he told MTV. “I’m already on it. It’s all set up. If they want all the records now, it would take me 30 days to put it together.”