Akon - Muzik of a Konvict (DVD), Azure, Music & Performance

This documentary follows the the life of Aliaune Thiam, aka Akon. He grew up in Senegal before his family (including his father, jazz percussionist Mor Thiam) returned to the United States and settled in New Jersey when he was seven. There he discovered Hip Hop for the first time, as well as crime. He was eventually jailed, but he used the time to work on his musical ideas. Upon release, Akon began writing and recording tracks in a home studio. The tapes found their way to SRC/Universal, which eventually released "Trouble," Akon's debut LP, in June 2004. The album was an interesting hybrid of Akon's raps and silky, West African-styled vocals with East Coast and Southern-styled beats. The success of the song "Locked Up" raised Akon's profile, and he followed up in the fall of 2006 with "Konvicted." Soon enough, two of the album's singles, "I Wanna Love You" and "Smack That," had made their way to the upper regions of the Billboard charts. Watch as we see how the only thing Akon is guilty of being Konvicted of is talented.