Akon and Ne-Yo

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, however raised largely in Senegal, Akon is the stage name of Ailaune Damala Bouga Time Bongo Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam. Influenced by his percussionist father, Akon learned to play the drums, guitar and djembe from a young age before settling in New Jersey at the age of seven. Upon discovering hip-hop Akon began immersing himself in its culture however later ended up in jail serving a three year sentence. From inside the prison walls the singer and rapper was able to focus on what was important and started generating musical ideas.

After being introduced to Devyne Stephens, the rapper signed with Universal’s SRC Records who issued his debut full-length “Trouble” in June 2004. Led by the single “Locked Up”, the record topped the charts in the UK, going on to sell over 2.8 million copies. The following year Akon issued the single “Lonely” which became his first worldwide hit, rising to No. 1 in Australia, the UK and Germany. Akon subsequently collaborated with rapper Young Jeezy on his album “Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101”, before forming his own record label Kon Live Distribution. The singer and rapper’s sophomore album “Konvicted” appeared in November 2006 and peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. Featuring the likes of Eminem, Snoop Dogg and Styles P, the record was led by the single “Smack That” and went on to sell over three million units.

“Konvicted” was followed in December 2008 by Akon’s third full-length “Freedom”, which spanwed the singles “Right Now (Na Na Na)”, “I’m So Paid”, “Beautiful”, and “We Don’t Care”. Following the release Akon began collaborating with Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga, New Kids on the Block, Leona Lews and Alexandra Burke. In 2009 the singer worked alongside David Guetta to create the track “Sexy Bitch”, which topped the charts in over 6 countries, and has since released the singles “Angel”, “Kush”, and “So Blue”.

Originally from Camden, Arkansas, Ne-Yo grew up in and has worked in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is said that growing up in Vegas with only his Mother after his parents’ divorce helped him become the songwriter he is today; as she encouraged him to keep a journal to help him work through his emotions and this became the inspiration for his song writing process.

Not only is Ne-Yo known for his smooth R’n’B, soul pop and hip-hop, but he is also an actor, producer and dancer with a wide range of all star collaborations to boast of. Most notably are the likes of hit track “Knock You Down,” with Kanye West and Keri Hilson, “Irreplaceable” with Beyoncé and “Take A Bow” and “Unfaithful” with Rihanna, but the list is extensive.

The first big move to launch his successful song writing career certainly set the tone in terms of genre and chart success, as Ne-Yo co-wrote Mario’s hit single “Let Me Love You” released in late 2004 and named the eighth most successful single of the decade by Billboard.

Ne-Yo’s solo work followed suit from his success on Mario’s single with a record deal from label Def Jam. Within just two years (2006-2008) Ne-Yo released three studio albums, “In My Own Words,” “Because of You,” and “Year of the Gentleman” all of which went platinum in the US and received global chart success. His most popular singles from the albums include “So Sick” (one of many collaborations with Stargate, a Norwegian production duo), “Because of You,” “Miss Independent” and “Closer.”

His later works, “Libra Scale” released in 2010 and “R.E.D” released on label Motown in 2012, did not see Ne-Yo maintain his mainstream success. Instead both albums, which were much more dance-pop inclined, spent a little time in the charts, the latter being his slowest selling album of all.

Ne-Yo continues to write dance-pop tracks much like his collaboration with rapper Pitbull, “Give Me Everything”, whilst maintaining his strong connection to his R’n’B roots.