Akon’s honest playlist: ‘The best song to have sex to? Smack That by Akon’
The rapper would sing Bob Marley going to school and gets the party started with Black Eyed Peas, but which pop classic is he ashamed to admit liking?
December 2023
Akon City: tumbleweed rolls through site of rapper’s Wakanda-inspired dream
Star unveiled plans for a city on the Senegal coast five years ago but the project has been beset by delays
January 2023
Sunday with Akon: ‘I’ve got a bowling alley in my basement’
The singer on junk food, quietness and perfect peace
September 2020
Music mogul Akon going ahead with futuristic 'Akon City' in Senegal
US-Senegalese star says smart city will be built in mould of fictional nation Wakanda
March 2020
You'll Never Walk Alone and Locked Up top chart of popular quarantine music
Listeners are flocking to hear tracks such as Don’t Stand So Close to Me and Everybody Hurts as the coronavirus crisis deepens
June 2018
Who says musicians lack ambition these days? Akon is building a real-life Wakanda
Rhik Samadder
The rapper already owns a diamond mine. Now he plans to build a futuristic city in Senegal trading solely in the cryptocurrency ‘Akoin’
December 2015
Guardian Africa network
Aid is dead: Akon sets out the case for lighting up Africa through business
The US-Senegalese rapper best known for filling dancefloors answers your questions about electricity, music and his love of the continent
October 2015
Energy access
Akon: ‘I don't think charities in Africa work’
US-Senegalese rapper Akon has launched an ambitious energy access project in Africa. But will it be as successful as his music?
July 2015
Guardian Africa network
Who really benefits from celebrity activism?
Ahead of the 30th anniversary of Geldof and Bono’s Live Aid, The Conversation asks whether star backers cause damage by oversimplifying the politics of power
November 2013
Eminem and Rihanna unite – and both secure their seventh No 1
Rihanna's guest spot on The Monster means she becomes only third artist to have seven No 1s across seven years
July 2013
Stagediving, putting the danger back into live music
It had become a rock and roll cliche – until R&B stars started putting their own fans in genuine physical peril
February 2012
Music blog
Musicians, stop collaborating please!
Caroline Sullivan: Jay-Z and Alicia Keys? Inspired. JLS and Dev? Pitbull and whoever? Just soulless, corporate collaborations that are ruining the charts
November 2010
Akon refuses to release unfinished Michael Jackson tracks
New Michael Jackson album is 'disrespectful', says Will.I.Am
September 2010
Fifteen years of the Mobo awards
This year sees the 15th anniversary of the Mobo awards. Here, we celebrate the event's legacy with pictures from the past decade and a half
July 2010
First Dizzee Rascal, now the British urban scene is getting crowded
Homegrown acts led by Tinchy Stryder and Taio Cruz are making sure British talent is recognised in the US
March 2010
Akon banned from Sri Lanka for Buddha statue video
R&B singer denied entry to Sri Lanka after 'controversial' video featuring Buddha statue provokes violent protests in the capital
February 2010
Akon leaves Capital after just one show
R&B star parts company with London radio station due to other commitments. By John Plunkett
Capital FM signs up R&B star Akon
Grammy-nominated singer Akon to present Saturday evening show on 95.8 Capital FM, Global Radio's London music station. By John Plunkett
Stars raise money for Haiti with new We Are the World single
Twenty-five years after USA for Africa released We Are the World, stars including Celine Dion, Akon and Pink have recorded a new version for Haiti
