Folks, let me take you on a journey to 2006. This was before artists like Kanye really upended the world of hip hop and and the biggest chart-toppers were still fucking around in the grey space around the 50 Cent model: bouncy, string-laden and libidinous. Akon‘s Smack That absolutely exemplified the hip hop energy of 2006:
(Also the music video is a shortform remake of 48 Hrs starring Eric Roberts for reasons I could not even begin to understand.)
What’s Akon been up to since his peak? A number of things – including a huge amount of charity work and development efforts in Africa. As part of his Lighting Africa Initiative, which seeks to empower Africans and improve living conditions across the continent with renewable energy, Akon has announced plans for a cryptocurrency. Yes, it is called Akoin. No, you may not have one.
We absolutely love this quote from @Akon from the Interactive Stage… He’s been talking about branding Africa and his many projects at #CannesLions this afternoon! pic.twitter.com/buWOPPy62m
— LIONS | The Home of Creativity (@Cannes_Lions) June 18, 2018
Here’s what he said about it at the Cannes Lions festival:
I think that blockchain and crypto could be the saviour for Africa in many ways because it brings the power back to the people and brings the security back into the currency system and also allows the people to utilise it in ways where they can advance themselves and not allow government to do those things that are keeping them down.
He’s also announced via the Akoin website that he intends to build what he calls ‘Akon Crypto City’ – a “first of its kind 100% crypto-based city” based on 2,000 acres of land gifted to him by the President of Senegal. Whether Akon will be successful in literally building a new city is up for debate.
“Akon Crypto City blends leading Smart City planning designs with a blank canvas for cryptonising our daily human and business exchanges, towards inventing a radical new way of existence,” says the website, which makes absolutely zero sense. But good luck to him anyway.
Page Six reports that Akon wasn’t keen to unveil the technical specifications behind Akoin just yet. “I come with the concepts and let the geeks figure it out.”
