Akon Keeps Freedom

Just a few days ago, Aliaune Thiam aka "Akon" pleaded guilty to a harassment charge for throwing Anthony Smith, now 16, offstage at a June 2007 concert at Dutchess Stadium in Fishkill, N.Y. Luckily for Akon the incident won't have him locked up as long as he willfully performs the conditions of his plea bargain: 65 hours of community service and pays a fine of $250. The incident was videotaped and another person attending the concert said she suffered a concussion when Smith fell on her in the audience. Akon even dedicated a semi-slow ballad song to this incident as well as a situation where he danced on stage with an underaged fan, in the song "Blame it on Me". Akon claims the incident where he threw a fan off stage came after an overly aggressive fan threw a bottle at him on stage. "They're looking to push my buttons and watch to see if I'll explode like every other convict would," Akon said. "But I'm not. I'm like Barack Obama -- real calm and relaxed. They're not going to trigger me into exploding no more." (Telegraph Herald) Ironically, the Telegraph Herald from Dubuque, Iowa discusses how Akon wants to distance himself from his criminal past. The R&B/rap star previously did time for a car theft. Akon's music is well known as "Konvict Music" with Akon singing the words as clanking prison bars sound. Akon's solo album was entitled "Konvicted" and one of his debut hits was the song "Locked Up" featuring rapper Styles P. Akon's most recent album was released earlier this month, originally slated to be called "Acquitted" but changed to "Freedom", which the rapper can now enjoy.