Although he was born in St. Louis, Aliaune Thiam, Akon grew up in Senegal before he and 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. Akon began writing and recording tracks in a home studio. The tapes found their way to SRC/Universal, which eventually… Read more in Amazon's Akon Store
![[Start the discussion]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/start-new-discussion-sec._V192250339_.gif){kind=small}
