On Saturday, February 11, 2023, Senegalese-American singer Akon was awarded the Legend of the Year during the SoundCity MVP Awards held in Lagos State, Nigeria.
Akon’s award is well-deserved for the tremendous role he has been playing for African music on the global stage since the advent of the 21st century. The “Blame It On Me’’ crooner made a name for himself in America and used his platform to create global awareness for African acts through collaborations.
It will be recalled that in 2011, Akon appeared in the remix video for PSquare’s “Beautiful Onyinye’’ featuring Rick Ross. The singer would also be part of the remix for PSquare’s “Chop My Money’’ song in 2011. At the time, PSquare was the biggest act in the African entertainment industry. PSquare’s collaboration with Akon saw Afrobeat spread all over the world.
Watch the remix for “Chop My Money” here:
In 2015, Nigerian singer D’Banj featured Akon in the remix of his “Feeling The Nigga’’ song, another win for afrobeat on the global stage. Akon has since gone on to do collaborations with other African acts.
Apart from music collaborations, the “Don’t Matter” singer has always projected Afrobeat in a positive light. During a Channels TV interview at the Expo 2020 in Dubai, Akon said PSquare, who had split by the time, “broke my heart because we are family. These are brothers and they shared the same womb and I always felt money should not get in between them.
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The singer praised Ghanaian act Black Sherif in a 2022 interview with BBC Radio 1Xtra. He noted that the Ghanaian act reminded him of his early days in the music industry.
He said:
“You can feel the pain, you can feel the struggle, you hear the challenges. But you can just hear a ghetto kid just wanting to get out. It’s the way he says it. Like, you know, it’s real. It’s not nothing that is fabricated.’’
Afrobeat is spreading like wildfire across the world, thanks to the efforts of global acts like Akon.