Akon during another radio interview, also claimed being rich doesn’t guarantee that anyone will be happy all the time
By Kehinde Okeowo
Senegalese-American singer and record producer, Aliaune Damala Badara Akon Thiam, better known as Akon, has claimed he signed the Nigerian duo of Wizkid and PSquare to take African music to the world stage.
Akon made the assertions in a recent interview, saying he signed Wizkid in conjunction with Sony Music after the World Cup in 2008 because he wanted to give Afrobeats worldwide acceptance.
According to the “Locked Up” crooner, African songs were so traditional at that time that they didn’t go beyond the continent. So, he started commercialising it for global acceptance and relish.
He added that after successfully bringing Wizkid on board, he proceeded to add musical duo of PSquare to his label.
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Akon said, “I signed Wizkid back in 2008. So what happened was, when I went to Africa after the world cup, we were looking for ways that we can take the local music and branch it off.
“So at that time, the local music was so traditional musically that it wouldn’t break outside of Nigeria, Ghana, anywhere.
“So, we started adding like commercialised music, like instruments around it. So we commercialised a lot of it. So we went from Afrobeats to Afropop basically.
“So it was then, we signed Wizkid first and after that, there was another group called PSquare. PSquare was two twins that came out of Nigeria”.
Meanwhile, Akon, during a radio interview, also claimed being rich doesn’t guarantee happiness all the time.
He said, “Money does not necessarily buy happiness as it largely depends on what makes one happy.
“People who have money do not have time as it makes you lose yourself and takes you away from your family.
“Money brings you more problems than it brings comfort. You lose yourself. You can’t find time for your family. That’s no comfort.”