Joe Yates
Akon wants to break the mold and change 'the whole vibe' of the music industry and seems worlds away from his raunchy Noughties tracks.
But Akon - real name Aliaune Damala Badara Akon Thiam - has explained why he 'loves' and 'will never regret' one of his more full-on singles.
The philanthropist is now known for his charity work as much as his hits, and in 2014 launched the charity Akon Lighting Africa - a bid to provide electricity to rural communities on the continent.
He has now spoken out about and why he'll never change the lyrics on one overtly sexual song he released.
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The Missouri-born rapper, of Senegalese descent, took a step back from the music industry to channel his efforts into becoming an entrepreneur and using those businesses to support Africa - including setting up the Konfidence Foundation, a charity dedicated to empowering youth in Senegal, West Africa.
In a recent interview with Metro, the 51-year-old was asked about some of his risqué lyrics in hits dating back to the 00s, insisted he didn't 'regret' anything.
One of the NSFW songs included 2006 hit 'I Wanna Love You', featuring Snoop Dogg, which he sings: "I see you winding and grinding up on that pole/I know you see me looking at you and you already know/I wanna f*** you."
Akon said: "I look at it like it was a part of who I was, and is who I am.
"I think with time, people will change. With maturity, people will make different types of decisions on what they’re dealing with currently.
"I would never condone anyone to change their past, because their past is where they make who they are, it’s what makes them who they are today.
"But for the most part, I do love it all, and I feel like the acceptance of what that was, lyrically at that time, was necessary for me to become what I am today.
"I definitely never regret it at all, no."
It comes as the wholesome R&B star released 'Akon's Beautiful Day' - a feel good single that teases an album he's due to release in February that doesn't yet have a name... but he hopes other artists will learn from his new hit.
Explaining why he's jumped back in the saddle, he said: "It all started with me being demotivated.
"I wasn’t really motivated with what I was hearing on the radios recently. And I just felt like, music just doesn’t feel the way it used to.
"Every artist is just dropping singles after singles, there’s no body of work, no albums no more with an experience.
"I was like, man, I’ve got to bring that back. One thing I realized about the music industry is that it’s a very bandwagon-driven type of industry. If we do one thing that works, then everybody follows suit and tries to do it as well."
He continued: "So, while we had all this low frequency music coming out, I said, let me just put out the most amazing positive record. I know it’s going to break through because I’ll probably be the only one doing it.
"Once it’s successful, all the other artists will actually hopefully buy it and do the same thing, and then we can change the whole vibe and the script of it."
His new anthem has soared to number three on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 - which ranks the most popular tunes on the app.