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Ever wondered what celebrities were like before they were really famous? Each week, the Voice Online in conjunction with MTV Base, will trawl through our archives to bring you some of first interviews from your favourite celebs!

This week we flash back to an interview with Locked Up star, Akon on a visit to London in 2006. Here the award-winning singer and producer explains why fellow musician, R Kelly is his ‘idol’ and reveals why his ‘gangster’ uncle tied him to a live railway track when he was six.

Akon, your career seems to just go from strength to strength. Your single, ‘Trouble’ sold more than three million units worldwide! How do you feel about that achievement?

I was happy at a million records. For an artist to sell a million copies is like almost impossible nowadays. You’ve got veterans that have been in the game for years that can barely go gold, so that was like a huge achievement for me.

You’ve won many awards and accolades and the Rolling Stones have described you as ground breaking. What is it you think the music scene was missing before it had Akon?

I don’t think it was missing too much before they had me. I just think like there was a lot already going that paved the way for me to be able to come in and do something different.

What’s life like right now for Akon? What have you been doing in the last few months? How are you feeling?

For the last few months I've been working on this new album called ‘Convicted’. It will be in stores November the 14th.

What are your predictions for the album?

I don’t predict, I just let it do what it do.

You have many notable collaborations on your album. Tell us the story about how you managed to get Eminem and Snoop on board.

Eminem and Snoop don’t normally work with a lot of different artists, especially Eminem cause he’s real picky about who he decides to work with. If it’s not within he’s original camp he really don’t do too many outside collaborations, so I had to figure out a way to where I could just get to him.

How did you convince him?

It was wild because the craziest coincidence ever! It just so happened that he was just as big a fan of me, as I was to him so that helped the situation. And then I did a record with Obie Trice and that got us together in the same room. Obie set up the introduction and we just clicked instantly.

Do you care about the preconceptions people have about you?

I never really care about what people think about me? I just allow people to think what they want cause that makes you grow, not only that but it expands your name because they create something for people to talk about.

Let’s talk about your Konvict record label. It has come up really fast in the three years since its conception. You are already places where Death Row was after 10 years.

The concept started three years ago and the movement is starting this year. We are going to start putting more records out back to back to back. T-pain was the first artist that we signed and he’s officially platinum now. We are working on his new album, which will be dropping in 2007. I’ve just picked up Chilli from TLC to work on her solo album.

TLC fans are really excited about that, what can we expect?

With Chilli it was a special situation because she’s actually one out of a million people that can have a second shot. She has always been successful with the group, but then at the same time, nobody ever knew who she was. People were always focused on the group, but she was just that pretty little face. She never really got a chance to explore her whole personality to her fans and people that really supported her. She got all the attention because she was just so pretty, but now it’s like she’s got a chance where she can actually have a voice.

Will you be producing all of her music on the new album?

I’m gonna be doing half the album and then I’ve got people that I’m connected with on the production side that will help me out. I’ve got her into the studio with Missy Elliot right now doing some records and Will-I-am is going to do a couple of records with her. I’m gonna reach out to Timberland to do some records on her and Scott Storch. I’m going to pretty much handle the rest of that album and knock out the best.

You’re also working with R.Kelly at the moment. Has he been a huge influence in your life and music?

R.Kelly, he’s an icon that I’d love to represent. He’s one of them kind of people who are artistic and extremely talented. He’s like one of the craziest writers I’ve ever heard, he’s a stupid producer and all round performer and artist. He is an example of what an artist would need to become to be successful. He has proven that all the way around the border and has been successful in every field I just mentioned. For people to compare me to that is one of the biggest honours I can receive. I always thought he was one of the most incredible artists, period!

Are there any non-music projects happening? Is there a movie in the pipeline?

Yes, we’ve got the illegal alien movie coming out soon. It’s a pretty much based on my life story. It’s about this little African kid that migrates to the US and gets tangled up in the whole culture shock situation. He’s confused about how he’s going to move forward and gets caught up in a whole bunch of mess. He gets locked up, switches his life around and becomes who I am today. It’s like ‘City of God’ slash ‘Menace to Society’ slash ‘Ray’ all in one movie. I mean the story is incredible. so definitely look out for that.

Are there any scenes in that or any stories that will shock the world, anything that they didn’t know about Akon before?

The railroad scene (laughs)

Tell us about the railroad scene.

It’s a lot of things like I deal with personally that people don’t’ really understand. As a kid I was always by gangsters. My uncle was straight gangster - he literally bullied the whole town! They called him Rambo because he literally shook everybody up, including me! I’m his nephew and one day I said I wasn’t giving him anything so he tied me to the railroad tracks and left me there for the train to run me over. It just so happened that an old man happened to be walking in that direction, minutes before the train got there otherwise I wouldn’t be talking to you today.

Wow! What happened to him afterwards? The rest of your family must have gotten involved!

Of course! The rest of the family jumped him, but come on, that’s Rambo.

How old were you when that happened?

I was pretty young, I was about six.

Published: 03 November 2009
Issue: 0

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