DownloadAkon
Although he was born in St. Louis, MO, Aliaune Thiam -- aka 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, as well as crime. He was eventually jailed but he used the time -- three years, he claimed -- 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 silky, West African-styled vocals with East Coast- and Southern-styled beats. The success of the song "Locked Up," a Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 hit, made Akon a star and desired collaborator. After appearing on Young Jeezy's "Soul Survivor," his number of guest appearances seemed to multiply each month. Konvicted, his second album was released in November 2006. Soon enough, two of the album's singles, "I Wanna Love You" and "Smack That," made their way to the upper regions of the Billboard charts. The surprisingly Euro-pop-flavored Freedom, his third album, followed two years later, and it repeated Konvicted's chart success by peaking within the Top Ten of the Billboard 200.
David Guetta
As one of the most in demand producers on the planet, David Guetta is poised to take electronic music out of the confines of the global underground, where he reigns as the No. 1 House DJ. Joining hands and forces with some of the biggest names on the urban scene, while introducing some undiscovered talents, another level beckons.
Already a multi-platinum selling artist in Europe, with three chart-topping albums to his name to date (Just a Little More Love 2002; Guetta Blaster, 2004; Pop Life, 2007), his signature sound of quirky, electro, house and dirty pop, is igniting across the rest of the world, where it was kept a club-land secret. Until now.