NAIROBI, Kenya, Sept 24 – You know Akon? He only sold like seven million albums with gold and platinum status and he is coming to Nairobi! For the MAMA (MTV African Music Awards).
The Senegalese-American multi-platinum artist and producer is set to headline at the 2009 MAMA Awards in Nairobi on October 10, performing alongside Fugees’ alumnus Wyclef Jean and a host of Africa’s most celebrated contemporary artists including Wahu, M.I., Samini and Lira.
Akon is a six-time Grammy-nominated artist/producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist, who first hit the music scene in 2004 with his debut album “Trouble”, which reached #1 in the Billboard charts.
Akon has had over 160 guest appearances with artists such as Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Lionel Richie, and Gwen Stefani to his credit. He is also the founder and CEO of two successful record labels, a R&B/hip-hop label Konvict Muzik, which has prepped releases for the likes of T-Pain and Asher Roth; and his newest label Kon Live Distribution, a joint venture with Interscope-Geffen-A&M, whose roster includes Lady Gaga, Kardinal Offishall, Colby O’Donis, and UK rapper Sway.
Akon’s highly acclaimed third studio album Freedom (Upfront/Konvict/SRC/Universal Motown) was released in December 2008 and he is already back in the studio prepping a new album for release in early 2010.
Additionally, Akon has successfully launched Konvict Clothing, an affordable street wear collection and will debut Aliaune, an international upscale men’s clothing line in the coming months.
Akon’s youth focused charity, the Konfidence Foundation, which concentrates its efforts on helping underserved African youth, has broadened its reach and developed community-based programs in the US as well.
The musician has been slated twice to come to Kenya but these have not happened after disagreements with promoters. Let’s hope he shows this time!
For further information on the MTV Africa Music Awards with Zain please go to www.mtvbase.com or mtvmama.mobi, join the MTV base Facebook fanpage at MTV-BASE@Facebook or follow our tweets at Twitter on twitter.com/mtvbaseafrica.
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