The UAE saw a different side of Akon this week. As The US-Senegalese singer and rapper, real name Aliaune Thiam, skipped the club stage in favor of a forum to deliver an inspirational keynote address at the Sharjah Entrepreneurial Festival on Monday.
The early years of his career were spent in semi-obscurity, writing and producing records for other rappers. But here we are in 2019, and Akon has become a household name. Even if you don’t regularly sing his nostalgic 00s bops into your hairbrush, chances are you’d still be familiar with his humanitarian missions in Africa.
More than 2,000 people were at the Sharjah Expo Centre to see the Lonely singer trace his journey from car thief to pop star and social entrepreneur.
“If God is not smiling upon me, I am not successful”
Despite the millions of albums sold and the Grammy Awards on his shelf, Akon says that his life away from the music industry provides him with the most satisfaction.
Now I may not make a million dollars out of that transaction, but I may get a few good credits to go to paradise. I am cool with that.”
“It makes you ask the question: what is success? Is it fame or fortune? Does that measure what success means to you? Or is it faith?” he questioned. “For me, real success is faith. If God is not smiling upon me, I am not successful. I don’t care even if I have a billion dollars in the bank. And what good am I if have a billion dollars sitting in the bank in the first place?”
Whether it is through the Akon Lighting Africa Project, a business providing solar-powered energy across the continent, or to do with the future launch of his own cryptocurrency, Akoin, the 46-year-old singer says many of his business moves are shaped by his Islamic faith.
While immensely proud of the company’s growth, Akon said his motivations are ultimately linked to reaching the light that’s beyond. “I don’t believe in having that much money sitting away without applying it to changing somebody’s life. Now I may not make a million dollars out of that transaction, but I may get a few good credits to go to paradise. I am cool with that.”
The US singer and entrepreneur @Akon discusses his career and the meaning of success at the @sharjahef on Monday. pic.twitter.com/HNHR0vMS5I
— Saeed Saeed (@SaeedSquared) November 26, 2019Related:
“Always perfect your craft,” he told the crowd, going on to add, however, that “sometimes things happen when you don’t want them to happen, and when God wants it to happen. And I think that’s a side that entrepreneurs dismiss – the spiritual side of your goal, or the spiritual side of your success.”
In 2015, Akon spoke to The National about Islam, and he told us about the relationship between his religion and his faith, “I was born a Muslim and, depending on what part of Senegal you came from, music was considered haram [unlawful] and there has always been a debate about Islam and music.
“Now I am not in a position to judge any man and I don’t expect them to judge me as well, but no matter what decision you decide to make just do right by it. Because, at the end of the day, Allah is watching and he knows what is in your heart.”
