Akon quotes: on pimping, profiting, philanthropy, and a few of my favorite Akon lyrics for good measure.
“I take everything as a blessing.”
“Ideas come to my mind when I do not expect them to come; as a result, I have always a studio ready for me within close proximity of my location.”
“The moment artists can just do what they love to do then music will go right back to where it used to be. I mean, back in the ’60s and ’70s and ’80s, that’s what it was.”
“Any album that you pick up of mine, you know it’s an Akon album. The guests are very limited, and you get to really feel the experience. You get the Akon experience when you get the albums. I always want to make sure that stays the way it is. I don’t want to flood the album to where you lose focus on why you bought it.”
“I love to just go to the movies, watch movies, listen to the scores and all that ’cause that’s, like, the next step for me.”
“Melody is able to project back to you in a certain way. It has the ability to trigger some specific nerves within your system as well as some specific instincts which cannot be triggered by any normal voice.”
“I always feel like as long as I’m doing what I love to do, the money’s naturally gonna come. When you start thinking business and you start thinking, ‘What’s hot? What’s the wave? Who is hot? Let’s get at that person,’ it becomes a point where you’re trying to strategize to make money. And that’s always a gamble.”
“It always seemed to me like if you come to a point where there is enough money with you for investing in something genuine, you got to invest in anything related to any natural resource since that is going to be here for eternity. Therefore, you might invest your money in something which is going to be there, instead of investing in something that is going to fade away.”
“In Africa, age is not important over there. They don’t care.”
“I always want to set myself a challenge by doing something no one would expect me to do. But, having said that, I don’t feel as a musician you can steer too far away from what you normally do.”
“I’m a polygamist. I can afford to have as many wives as I can afford to have. All Africans believe in it. My dad has four wives.”
“It’s always the music first for me. But if the music isn’t selling, there isn’t gonna be any business. So you gotta make sure music is always the first priority.”
“As long as you’re giving up quality records and you’re makin’ hit records, people are always gonna want to hear a hit, and they’ll always want to be attached to something that’s doin’ great.”
“Whatever obstacle comes your way, you gotta be prepared to jump over it. And I think that’s what separates the legends from the regular artists. It’s all in how you manage that success, and how you deal with the controversy when it actually comes.”
“I don’t want to know I’m getting older. Then I’ll start to think about getting checkups and insurance. I don’t want that.”
“I just like music all the way around the board. I can’t stick to one thing. I’ve got to move around.”
“The difference between dreams and success is that dreams need effortless sleep and success needs sleepless efforts.”
“If you dream it, you can do it.”
“I think even outside of being an artist, anyone with success should always put themselves in a position to help others.”
“I always try to give my own albums space in between so I have time to create a new sound and give time for people to miss me. You have to come out fresh and reinvent yourself.”
“That’s my actual payment, the fact that I can actually make something that I actually enjoy and put on repeat, and it’s not related to anything else or anyone else’s thoughts and ideas, it all came from me; I just love that aspect of it.”
“While I’m here, I’m gonna milk it for all I can, so when I’m no longer hot—and I know that day is coming—I will step over here and enjoy everything I’ve created up to this point. The music is just opening all these doors, so I can relax.”
“[On what it’s like in Africa] What I remember the most really was just running wild there. Barefooted, swimming in dirty lakes, selling fruit, picking mango trees, hoping not to get caught because they don’t take kindly to thieves in Africa.”
“I feel you creepin’, I can see you from my shadow. Wanna jump up in my Lamborghini Gallardo. Maybe go to my place and just kick it, like Tae Bo… and possibly bend you over. Look back and watch me smack that.”
“I’ma call her. Then I put the mack down. Money? No problem. Pocket full of that now.”
“I understand that there are some problems. And I am not too blind to know. All the pain you kept inside you. Even though you might not show. If I can’t apologize for being wrong. Then it’s just a shame on me. I’ll be the reason for your pain and you can put the blame on me. You can put the blame on me.”
“Eminem is the greatest ever.”
