By Nigel Nassar

AKON, though Americanised, is every inch an African man, and has gone an extra mile to tell the world that he has not forgotten his African roots. The Senegalese-American R&B/Hip-Hop sensation, who arrived in Uganda on Thursday night ahead of his concert yesterday, told the Ugandan press that he has “only” four wives.

“I have read stories on the internet saying I am involved with many girls. But I have only four girlfriends, whom I also refer to as my wives,” Akon, aka Aliuane Thiam Badara, said to the enchantment of the journalists and fans during a conference at Celtel house, six hours before his concert. Read the rest of this entry »

Nigel Nassar
Kampala

THE crowd was mammoth and ecstatic. Everyone, young and old, VIP and ordinary, got on their feet, singing and dancing along. Akon did not disappoint. His live concert on Friday night was worth every penny revellers paid for it.

The venue, Lugogo Cricket Oval, was full to the brim. It had filled up by 6:00pm, about two hours before the beginning of the show.

Recorded music entertained the crowd until the first curtain raiser, Uganda’s Chameleone, got onto the stage. He was followed by Bebe Cool.

Then came a close substitute. Nigerian US-based duo P-Square got onto the stage and sang the remaining chill out of the audience. They taught the crowd the Do Me dance - and it was quick to learn.

Finally, at about 10:45pm, Akon stepped onto the stage to claim his show, sending revellers into a frenzy.

They screamed and jumped high in the air with their hands reaching out, trying to touch him.

Clad in a black cardigan with its hood covering his head, a pair of blue denim jeans and black dancing shoes, he let out a loud holler: “Uganda, are you ready?”

The “yes” response was deafening.

Then he uncovered his head, revealing a wavy hairdo and diamond-studded earlobes.

“What a hunk!” a lady in the VIP section yelled.

Then the Senegalese-American R&B/Hip-hop sensation set the ball rolling, singing out his heart and thrilling Kampala with more than 15 of his hits, including Mama Africa and Locked Up.

By the time the show ended, one and a half hours later, he had stripped to a bare chest and thrown the four T-shirts he had been wearing into the crowd.

The Urban Music Festival at the Dome in Northgate, Johannesburg, failed to live up to expectations. Featuring Senegalese-American singer Akon and rapper Fat Joe, the show, held on Friday night, failed to attract music lovers despite thousands of rands that were pumped into the concert.

Those who could not see the show should not worry about missing the concert because they missed nothing. Firstly, the venue was empty and the sound was bad, to say the least. Even Brian Mcnight’s show was able to fill the hall to capacity.

The festival started on time with local acts doing curtain-raisers for the international acts. Female singer Lungi was first but she failed dismally on stage.

After her Jozi and Leane performed but still could not shake the crowd. Singer Danny K tried to give the show some life but his voice was swallowed by the sound.

Music lovers began enjoying the concert when American duo Black Violins came on stage. Then music lovers finally saw Fat Joe on stage, giving a rather lukewarm performance. The man who really saved the day was the multi-award winning Akon. He gave a sizzling performance.

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/