Ignoring the means, he is hyper-focused on one thing - getting paid. Akon is not only one of the richest hustlers in hip hop, he's joy riding it every step of the way. A true hustler eschews sentiment for the process. He chases the cheddar, the green, the paper, the Benjamins and stacks with velocity. Akon, with his big ass grin transcends the game. De-
A
scribed as a "Forbes Cash King" and "recession proof," he's infatuated with every one of his enterprises which include two record labels, musical collaborations, mul- tiple fashion lines, Lady Gaga, and a diamond mine in South Africa. It wasn't always this way. Akon, 38, did a three year
bid in the big house for boosting cars. It was there that his cellmate lent him an epiphany, "If you put as much hustle into music as you do on the street, you will en- joy the outcome". Akon put his own philosophy on top of that explaining, "Do what you love, but set hardcore goals. I told myself that I wanted to collaborate with Mi- chael Jackson within ten years. I did it in five. I didn't know what to do with myself!" In chopping it up with the mogul, I found a man who
is self-actualized. Yeah, he's hustling for cash… but he's also hustling for happiness.
true hustler is preoccupied with the results.
Scrappy: We met over six years ago when you were just a dude with a demo and a dream, hanging out in the studio with me. You sat down in front of a microphone and fully expected me to inter- view you. And I was a jerk. You traveled all the way from New Jersey, but I did not pay attention to you because you didn’t have a hit record for me yet. I'm sorry about that, dawg!
AKON: Hey, no problem. It wasn't my time.
S: Well, you taught me a valuable lesson. Developing relation- ships in this business should not always be based on what you can do for me "now."
AKON: It is all good, Scrappy.
S. Now you can't go out in public anywhere without getting mobbed!
AKON: Germany, London, Italy, you name it… Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Africa… it’s all over the world, really. S: You were born in St. Louis, but you’re from Senegal, right? AKON: Yes, I actually live in Africa.
S: Maybe that’s why you have such a different vision. When you approach your record, you take it from a different angle, a differ- ent perspective.
AKON: Yeah, sometimes you’ve got to come from a different an- gle. Growing up in Africa, I was brought up a certain way and that helped a lot. I was always a firm believer in just doing something totally opposite of what everybody else was doing. Sometimes it takes longer to catch on, but when it does, it really sticks.
PULSE MAGAZINE ---------- 12
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