Akon on Where He Went Wrong with Akon City, Seeing Suge get KOed & More

27:37Louis, 607 Unc. Are you aware of him? Not aware? He's coming out of St. Louis. He's got a lot of star power. He's new, yeah. Man, you know who that is. That's the crazy nigga been on the internet. and it'd be rough. Y 'all got a show we broke. See, that's how he's able to develop artists and do all this shit because he's not like scrolling short form content. Hey, he from the Ludo. Listen, you know what he is? This episode is brought to you by ChatGPT. Hey, it's Bill Simmons from the Bill Simmons Podcast. Have you guys heard about ChatGPT work? It's the new way to use ChatGPT for bigger multi-step projects.

28:17And when you need more than just answers, give ChatGPT work access to your apps and files and it can create real work documents like spreadsheets, slides, and structured reports. Get started at chatgpt.com by selecting work mode available on Plus and Pro plans. This episode is brought to you by Facebook. So you were scrolling on Marketplace and there it was, the bike you'd been searching for. You sent a message and it turned out the seller was super chatty, kind of funny, and an avid cyclist. The next thing you know, you're in a cycling crew well a community cycling group the thing about Facebook you might find more than what you're looking for from a browse to a bike ride this summer find more on Facebook he's a black 6 '9 of 2015 when he speaks you gonna look at him he's doing some antics his eyeballs is this big he lies about everything but you wanna hear him lie he gonna put everything on his mouth He tells everybody that he wrote country grammar.

29:24What Nelly say? I don't think Nelly's weighed in on it. Shock value. Imagine if we brought them together at some point. See, that's why 6 or 7 not being out here is crazy because we can't get them in the mix. That's so funny. So, bro, the major, major things that kind of like made me start scratching my head like, whack, you got to figure something out is the city. When we heard word that you was building your own city. Right. Were you going to Senegal? Were you from or you was going someplace different? Oh, no. The city, it's multiple cities, actually. Oh, it's multiple. Right. Senegal is the first one.

30:03Because I remember I'm seeing you, and you said, Wack, I got to go to Dubai to do. It was something you was presenting the city. I'm like, hold on. I didn't do some industry shit, but I ain't never been to a city presentation. I'm talking about it presenting a city. Piru City. No. Piru City. Listen, I don't know if you notice, Adam, that everything I've been doing is a step away from that. Yeah. Like when they gave me an F minus. He got been. You talking about your business in Africa? It is. He's still kind of hurt because he got an F minus. No, I'm not. No, I'm not. That is a good thing. Yeah.

30:39I just want him to send that report card to all law enforcement. And Wack got an F minus when it comes to gang banking. That doesn't mean that you're not breaking the law. I'm not breaking the law. It just means you're being a buster while you're doing it. See, Khan is crazy because I just got a text this morning saying my invitation letter's coming. Oh, nice. See, a lot of, like. To Akon City? No, I've been telling my brother, too. That's for DRC. I've been. When it comes to Africa. Right. We are so used to the Americanized way of how things work. Over there, it works at their pace. Yes. Right.

31:16So things that we might get done in six to nine months might take your ass two, three years. Well, that's what we always hear is that it's like extremely difficult to get shit done in Africa because of corruption. You got to actually fix it. Khan wasn't paying me no attention until I started showing him certain things that you're not supposed to have unless you're dealing with the people that's controlling the country. Okay, so where are we at with the city right now? Because there's been a recent burst of media attention with people claiming that it was not happening or whatever. Yeah, where are we at with that?

31:53Yeah, we're under attack. Acon City is under attack at the moment. Really? Yeah, it's a lot of big powers, alligarchs, you know, the people that move the continent, the West. You know why that is. So we had to do the research just last week. Had a full team, digital team on. Come to find out, they've been sending out. They've been literally sending. We had over 23 impressions of false information related to Akon City. Really? Yeah. They were successful shutting down Akon because of what that was going to do. But that was more of a public perception. You were creating your own currency? Yeah. That was what the city was kind of based around.

32:33Yeah. Well, it wasn't based around it, but it was a key token that would help to finance the city. I would have moved a lot faster had Acoin not have so many challenges. But then that's when I realized, okay, Acoin has to stay in Africa. I can't present that outside because it poses too much of a threat, right? So then the city was something different. That's more of a confidence from the people because Africa creates more millionaires than anywhere in the world on an annual basis. Like it's so much money in Africa. But the problem is we don't come together and we don't unite as businessmen. Right.

33:06Because had we did that, we could control the continent. But everybody make billions in Africa. Then they ship it off to some, you know, Cayman Islands or they ship it to Swiss banks or whatever. They don't make it specific. Right. Because they don't trust the infrastructure there, because most of the money that's being that's local is all balanced by outside currency. So that's why the local currency always fluctuates and it's not really worth much when it leaves the continent. So what the city was going to do, the city was going to start to create a whole different infrastructure that builds like stability.

33:40Because a city like that to be done in Africa successfully would only show that it's possible. And if it builds confidence to other major people like myself or other, you know, billionaires or millionaires within Africa themselves, and they see that it was done, I mean, it's a possible thing that can actually be done, they won't hesitate to move in that direction and build the areas where they're from. Right. So Africa was always set up to be something that you keep to the bottom because of how much has been taken advantage of. So they can't afford for the people in Africa to develop themselves.

34:13Akon City is a major project that's globally known now of what it can possibly do if that should happen. And the kind of confidence it was set up in all them other countries to actually produce that kind of development in their area. So their goal is to make sure that that project has enough credibility missing from it that it don't move until they can kind of find a way to control the situation. That's what I was going to say. That's what's happening. I know that because going through what I've been going through, right? And I kind of learned from you because I did the opposite just to make it happen.

34:49You know what I know now? I wouldn't have said shit until. So when you first announced that you was making your moves and you aligned yourself with certain people, so what they'll do is he'll align himself with these people, and then they'll come this way and say, hey, we want in. And they kind of say, well, I'm dealing with these people. So then they'll circumvent through the back door. And when these people make out these things, these things and these things going on outside of that, they'll start to roadblock these things. Right. So giving these people know the option to kind of like let's figure out another way, which slows down the process.

35:20Right. So even in my situation, when they approach me, I learn from you and I let them in. But the only reason why I let them in is because I have a whole nother country that I'm just standing alone in. But you're doing the right thing. You're supposed to let them in. Yeah, I let them in. Me, my first round got to be all Africans. Yeah. It has to be. Yeah. But see, that's where you It has to be controlled by Africa. That's why I'm doing it. Yeah. And that's where the powers Right. It's like, well, hold up. They can't be above us. But who's ideologically like invested in tearing Akon City down?

35:57Like who, like what mentality sort of whoever has interests in Africa that this project could affect is who it is. Like it's clear. I'm seeing the data, right? I'm clearly being attacked. Like I know it. It's not even a question. Like, but then they put out stories. If they can get a story to get any kind of traction, then YouTubers grab onto it. TikTokers grab onto it. And before you know it, there's some, some random girl took this piece of news that she saw. And now she's got, you know, 5 million views on her TikTok from basically just parroting something that is, you know, They're clipping as they go.

36:36The idea of like, oh, Akon failed dramatically at something is tantalizing to people. They want to know. He seems very successful. Tell me how he's not actually. Online, that is a very compelling narrative to people. And regardless of what you put out there, 30 % of the world is going to believe it anyway. Even if you show it's false, 30 % of those people are still going to run with it. And when it comes up, they're going to give their false belief period that's just how it works how it works and then the more the more you see some things you start to kind of believe it because everywhere you go you can actually see it even if you don't believe it you're looking for something that's going to go okay that's not true but when you're putting out 23 million impressions you can only combat that for so long right right because normally i wouldn't even talk about it i keep it quiet but i was like i have to have something that i say that can combat some of that information that's going on.

37:31Otherwise, I wouldn't say nothing at all, but now it's tearing into my reputation. Right. But would you say that there have been significant challenges? And like, what are the challenges in terms of development? Because I think, you know, people are kind of right to say that it seems like it's been moving slower than they might have expected. Well, actually not. It hasn't been moving slow. Really? At all. I think one of them was like, because I remember I was talking and speaking with somebody. I was overseas and it was like, when you're doing something that this magnitude, you, you overlook small things cause you just know they're going to be there.

38:04So one time somebody met, forget who it was. They mentioned, um, getting the laborers, right. The actual laborers to do the, the sanitation and all, because you can, your mind, you tell yourself, all right, all the people with the money going to come, but the people with the money don't do the labor, right? They don't do none of that. So now you got to come up with a way to how are you going to move the laborers from other locations to here. Right. Just basic logistics. But the beautiful part about Africa is that labor is everywhere. Yeah. And it's cheap. That's the easy part. Like all that's easy.

38:40Like that's the easy part. The mistake I made was announcing it before I got started. Because once I announced it, people thought it already existed. So that's why that time that you're talking about, that seems like that's long. The moment it came to my mind, I said, cool, I'm going to announce it. And then through that announcement, I'm going to find the support. I'm going to find the financing and I'm going to find the people that actually have the infrastructure to help me pull this thing together. Right. What I didn't calculate was the moment I announced it, people thought this shit was already existing.

39:10Yeah. Because just the studies alone from the environmental study, soil study, like just the studies alone took two and a half years. I just went through those studies. Yeah. It's no joke. The studies alone. And mind you, the studies was happening during COVID when half the people and engineers couldn't even travel to Africa. They couldn't travel. So mind you, that timeline in between and people like Akon City's coming and you see the video all through the internet. You're seeing the whole thing. You're seeing the idea. So people are like, yo, when are we coming? When is it going to happen? And now the oligarchs are like, yo, this is actually possible.

39:45Because we got real investors with real money. Like we're going to put in a certain amount of dollars to be a part of this thing. Right, because, I mean, think about how much shit Dr. Umar gets for saying that he wants to build a school. A school is relatively simple in comparison to a city that will presumably have multiple schools inside of it. No, he has a building that's sitting there, boarded up, and he ain't did nothing to and collecting. The building is there. It's in like Delaware or something. I had somebody from my clubhouse app go drive by and take pictures. It's there. Oh, yeah. Right?

40:15So the building's there. This is, this what he, and I'm wondering, how big was a city going to be circumference, like miles? How large? It's 500 hectares, which equals to about almost 2 ,000 acres. Okay. So it's a small city. Oh, small city. Yeah, it's a small, that's like almost like, what's the best example? Maybe like Toluca Lake, something like that, Sherman Oaks.

40:47More possibly. But it's like, what's the best way to explain? I'm trying to figure out a radius that everybody know that's kind of off the cuff. You haven't seen the videos of it online? No, I was just wondering. Yeah, I see it. And it's right off the water, too. It's almost like Vegas. It's like Vegas. The area where all the hotels and all the casinos, that little circle, it's like about the size of a small Vegas city. That's about the same size. If you think Vegas, that's what that is. And what type of funding was that going to take? How many billions? Originally it was done at$6 billion. $6 billion.

41:27But with all the new technology, the capabilities we have today, we're going to skim that down. It's going to be way less than that. Not way less, but it's going to be at least another billion and a half. We need a no-jumper building. Oh my God. No drummer story. Yeah, but what would you say to the people who have been making videos in the past couple of weeks about the Akon City thing, like basically trying to, you know, discredit it? Like, what would be your message to them in terms of what they're getting wrong? They're not getting anything wrong. They're just getting information that's not correct, right?

42:00It's not them because they don't know. What I would tell them is, like, don't be so quick to just repost something. Take the time to do research. Because back in the day when you had investigative journalists, they would actually get the information. And then you get the real information, right? And I understand this entertainment is cool because in time, it's all going to come out anyway. It's just a matter of time. Yeah. Right? It's going to all blow over. People are going to forget. And while they're forgetting, the work's still going on. Then when I finally announce and everybody gets there, then they're going to be like, oh, shit.

42:28Then you're going to look at all of those negative shits and be like, damn, this shit was no joke after all. Like, I didn't understand how crazy the politics was. I'm now learning, like, damn, this shit is, from the eyes of them, is way bigger than me just building a city. because it was a legacy thing for me, but I didn't realize the impact that it was going to actually bring to the continent until recently. So think about all of the agendas that's in Africa and why something like this would be personal. Always ask yourself the question, why there's so many negative reports out there, and it's only one-sided.

43:03Whenever you see things happening only one-sided, you've got to know it's guerrilla warfare. No, definitely. I mean, you look at Twitter on a daily basis. I'm constantly seeing tweets that are basically just talking about how fucked up Africa is. And that's like a content genre now. And they do it for other places too. They want to keep you away from there. 100 % reason. Every day when I look at Twitter, I get reminded India smells bad. That's just like on Twitter, this is just such a constant source of content. And it's kind of bizarre how people like it. They want to keep you away from there.

43:33They got some beautiful places over there. You know, I'm definitely going to be putting in my bed. for Akon City. Are you invested in the diaper brand? Because I want to be the only... No, that's so brilliant. I want to be the only... That shit is so brilliant. And I want to create incredible land for the kids. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Incredible land in Akon City is crazy. Man, why not? Why can't that be our Disneyland? Why can't that be our Disneyland? You know, Akon is crazy, right? Because when you... Over here, we're used to seeing certain things, right? But see, when you see shit like that, right?

44:09You know what you're looking at. It's like a diaper patent? Nah, nah. See, he knows what he's looking at. See, that's that. And for him to see me, the whack that he knew, to now be in the middle of that type of situation. Wait a minute. Right? That's why he salutes me and be like, you know what? Whenever whack calls. Because he knows where I come from and he knows where I'm at. So when he sees that, he understands what he's looking at. because he's dealing with those people in hire. You get what I'm saying? So that just came this morning. That's so dope. So you know what that is, right? Because he gives me, he rags me about it all the time.

44:50But I get why he does it, right? But I had to learn because I was frustrated. And Congo is not an easy place to do business, bro. Yeah. I got 15 mines in Congo. There's no joke planned over there. Really? Congo is, you're dealing with, I mean, these dudes, they kill a gorilla with their bare hands. Really? You don't go over there unless you would up under the right thing. Period. It doesn't seem like the ideal environment to build a diaper empire in. You better look at the population. Nigeria is next. You're looking at the next billionaire right now. With that business in Africa, I promise you, do they not have diapers already?

45:28No, you're missing the point. I'm going to be incredible diapers, will be the only diaper company with factories that is manufacturing in Africa, based in Congo, shipping back to the U.S., but because of the people I stand with, we are the diaper of the country. So just in Congo alone, he's going to monopolize it. Right. With that partnership. He's going to end up being like a warlord or something like that. You don't want to see him operating in an environment in which there's a lot of corruption because he's someone who loves corruption. For sure. I can just imagine you getting into some real trouble out there.

46:10You know what's crazy? He don't know the whack you know. I can see him getting into, like, arms supply. You know I be chilling. He could be like a weapons distributor. You know what I'm saying? Like, when you see it? But, yo, the old whack, I can see him being an arms dealer. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The old whack, though, I think he gets a body of stuff. I don't know. I think you think he's changed more than he actually has. He knows me. Bro, like he knows. And the one I know, definitely changed. Really? Wow. Man, I'm a 360. I think he got worse. Bullshit. So, Con, listen, man. They always ask me this because I seen it, but I missed it.

46:49I was right behind you. What brought you to 6 '9"? What brought me there? To allow him, because you let him use, you let him remix. The Locked Up. Locked Up. Yeah. So it's like a troll, or what was your thought? Actually, I didn't see him as a troll. When I saw him, I saw potential in the kid that knew how to market. Like, he was a brilliant marketer. You remember when we got the game, I said, I know you might be going against this one, but I think you need to be a part of this one, because we need to protect him. That's a fact. And when I said that, right? I never told people about who was like, and when Khan told me that, because people were like, Why did you make that move?

47:26And Khan, he put it into a perspective. He told me, sir, he said, Wack, how many people we done been around? And then we found out later on that they've been telling prior to us being around them. He said, so we didn't help people like that already, not even knowing it. He said, so let's factor that out and look at what's in front of us. Period. And he's a kid, by the way. It's our job, bro. It's our job to direct them niggas in the right way. He's surrounded by a whole bunch of nopperheads. like shoddy and them. Those are my little niggas. Like I love them to death, but they was doing the wrong thing by him at that time.

48:02And that's just being real. So you see a path towards rehabilitation for somebody like him. Who's realistically one of the most well-known snitches in hip hop. Like what, how does that work in your mind? How it worked? I was actually confused because I was trying to understand why the culture was giving him that much credit for real. He was only a what? 19 year old kid, 20 year old. They made them big. They made him big. It's like, how is he more important than the people we know? Yeah, they made him big. Understand, like, we know some certified, like, legitimate, like, these niggas built the game.

48:40And they all cooperated. It was because so many. That's a fact. They built what we're talking about. What influences the hip hop. But who's told that it's like that, you know, prevalent in the culture that didn't get called out for it? This is your whole thing. This is what you do. But why him, though? What makes him so special? Because he was like the biggest rapper of that year. No, he was the biggest troller of that year. But the music was huge, too. And people were so fascinated because it's like, how do you let this little tattooed Mexican kid into this very serious blood set? To people, they couldn't wrap their head around it.

49:16It was so fascinating. He's in New York. How many major rappers right now are tied around blood? Man, that shit is a man. It's a man in the industry right now. But he's a little fucking, he looks like a sound clap. He looks like a little punk with more face tattoos. But he's in this real serious gang, you know? Like, people obviously can't look away from that kind of thing. They're all in a serious gang. This is the part that I didn't understand. Okay. First of all, why him, number one? Nobody could never give me that answer. Number two, what made him snitch so powerful to the point of it affected everybody?

49:51Well, it got mad people locked up, right? Boy, we didn't see, man. But, like, okay, let's just say hypothetically he was wrong for snitching. Hold on, hold on. You got to correct yourself. They were going anyway. No, that's what I'm trying to say. They were already on them phones. If he wouldn't have snitched. But why are you guys shooting him bail that you wouldn't give anybody else in the same situation? No, no, no. I'm trying to paint the situation on why I felt like it was important to protect him in that situation, right? First of all, he's not a street guy. He's an entertainer. This episode is brought to you by ChatGPT.

50:30Hey, it's Bill Simmons from the Bill Simmons Podcast. Have you guys heard about ChatGPT work? It's the new way to use ChatGPT for bigger multi-step projects. And when you need more than just answers, give ChatGPT work access to your apps and files, and it can create real work documents like spreadsheets, slides, and structured reports. Get started at chatgpt.com by selecting work mode available on Plus and Pro Plans.

51:21you're looking for. From a browse to a bike ride, this summer, find more on Facebook. He's surrounded by young street niggas. Yeah, they was all making crazy decisions, but everybody around him knew that he wasn't street. Everybody knew that if he was ever to be caught in that situation or whatever situation, he wasn't built to resist. But he was doing stuff that street dudes, you know, he was calling in hits on Chief Keefe, on FaceTime, on camera, all that kind of stuff. He was the promoter of what was happening. He was having fun. The same way. I know that's fun, but it's also illegal. It's also a crime.

51:59No, but he was the promoter of what was happening around him. He wasn't doing it. You know what he told me? He was allegedly paying for it. He was actually the hit. He was the hit. Had I not pulled him out, 6ix9ine would be dead. He was the hit. And he was the hit by the people that were supposed to be protecting him. Listen, he said, I just got a kick to them dudes when they're going to do it. what I said. So, you know what I'm saying? Right. Right. As a kid, he's like, yo, they really will go. So he just, well, let me try it again. Like, but it's the dudes around them. You know, you're not supposed to be entertaining this period.

52:35He's supposed to went to the studio, went to the club, went to the stage, let his little ass go back home. Done. I asked him, I said, bro, how in the hell did you get all them dudes with them bandanas in the video? He said, I stopped at the bodega, brought all the red bandanas, pulled up, turned and jumped out and started handing them off. And I used to think that that was a pretty unique thing, but I've actually seen that happen at a bunch of music videos now. You go on Amazon, you can buy like a hundred pack of red bandanas. Yeah. All these guys are marketers, man. He's a brilliant marketer.

53:07That's true. And he pulled a play out of 50 cents a book. It worked for 50. And he told me one thing when I, he told me this one thing that made me say, this little nigga understands marketing. He said, listen, he said, Khan, when you watch a movie, who do you remember? The hero or the villain? You never forget the villain. Never. Why? Because the villain always gets you emotionally. And he looked at the numbers. He said, bro, I get more hate messages than I get positive. You know that. But guess what? For every click, nigga, he gets paper. So number one, we could get 100 red bandanas for 50 bucks on Amazon.

53:48Look at that. Amazing. But in addition to that, what does 6ix9ine need to do now to get people to pay attention? Because it feels like whatever superpower... All you gotta do now is just come back and clean up. Whatever superpower you had before, though, seems like it's kind of worn off. He just can't capture people's imagination like he used to. Because he can't be the 6ix9ine. That's in America. He needs to go jelly roll. If you go to Mexico City, there's a mural of him on the wall. put place there when he was invited down there by the people. That is the shame of Mexico City, by the way. You can't celebrate a snitch like that.

54:24He goes down there and he goes to the villages. They fly him down there, the people, the powers that be, and he kicks it with their kids. This is why I tell people. You see who he did his last deal with? Cartel music. Right. So you're saying he's actually in a cartel now? No, I'm saying he does business with the right people. Okay. You get what I'm saying? Man, when you going back, because me and my brother say we coming to Acon City together. You know, I go to the DR once a year to go kicking with my brother. Our brother. Brother, when you going back. It's not exactly next door to the DR, right?

54:57No. No, but we talking about H.J. Jack because he can't come over here. That's our brother. So I got to go over there and see him. Right. You know what I mean? But that's our brother, brother, brother. Yes, sir. So, okay, I went to Cape Town in 2014 for a week on a BMX trip, and I haven't really even thought about going to Africa since then. Like if I were to, aside from Akron City, obviously, what should I experience in Africa that would really give me a full picture of the continent? That's the thing. I can't really tell you what to experience because you're going to experience all that shit.

55:28You're going to be telling me what you experienced. Right. Because the thing is, you're already going with a false narrative of what you think it's going to be. So from the moment you land, you're going to already be shocked. True. I was definitely shocked on it. As long as you don't experience Casablanca, you'll be all right. What does that mean? The nigga that kidnapped me. Oh, no, no, no. You're talking about Rufino. That's my dog, though. He does a respectable kidnap. If I could not get kidnapped, I would probably be pretty happy. He does a respectable kidnap. You'll come do a show. Great show.

55:54Tomorrow you got to leave the year, right? He comes to your hotel. My people love the show so much. You do it one more time. The money's already in your account. You stay one more day, then you go. No, we got to go to Europe. No. Actually, I brought people to make sure you're comfortable. You got the military. You got the hyenas. on leashes, AK-47. Hey, yo. Oh, he told you about it? No, he ain't lying? When I tell you how many people I got out of there? Bro. Because Rikino would listen to me. Somebody would be like, Rikino, you can't, Rikino. Don't worry. He's sending you the money, though. It already be in the account.

56:26He already sent me. He'll come in the briefcase in cash. No, he ain't playing. Not playing? Wow.

56:35You don't remember when Nas' manager went over there? And they wouldn't release the manager in the sun? come back three years ago really yeah so wait okay when i was going through your catalog over the last 24 hours since i found out we're gonna do this interview uh so like you your last like more mainstream r &b type pop project was 2020 and since then most of the stuff you've released have been more in the afro beat type genre etc like the afro freak series and all this yeah afro and I'm a piano, around that time I was doing it so I can find a way in the vehicle to kind of keep pushing the Afrobeat narrative.

57:15Because the whole, since 2008 we've been trying to push that shit and make it international. So now that we had that wave, I wanted to continue to just keep the algorithm going for that. So these were specialty albums more from a strategic perspective. So that's why I didn't even promote them. So in terms of making that other type of sort of classic Akon style of music? Is that something you feel like your past or is that something that is just kind of on the shelf as you sort of pursue other styles? The new album I'm going to have it. The new album I'm dropping is going to have it. Me, like again, I use music as a vehicle.

57:50So depending on what I'm working on and what business I'm promoting or what opportunity is there, it's the kind of music I put out. Man, if you look right now, I got fans that don't even know I had a number one Spanish album. It's called El Maradito. The album's debut number one on the Spanish charts. Half y 'all niggas don't even know it. And that was around the time I was trying to get that electricity contract in Puerto Rico during the... The coldest stunt I've seen you pull. And I gotta say this. Is when I'm looking up and I think you don't even want to do this. And I'm seeing Crayola has changed the name from Black to Akon Black.

58:28That's a fact. Akon Black is damn near purple, but it's black. I said, yo, bro on some, so I'm asking myself, how is he positioning himself to be in this lane? That is, that's the thing you have to figure out. It's one thing, okay, you're somebody, but to position yourself to be in that lane to those kind of people to see you, right, is where it's at. And that's the reason why you always be successful, because day one, when people just thought you was an artist with all these hits. And I'm going to be real. We got to give him credit here. Con didn't have a bunch of 16, 316 verse songs. This Negro was torn off hooks and quick runs.

59:23But the people was going crazy. Remember them pool parties you used to do in Vegas? Oh, my goodness. Nuts. I'm like, bro, it ain't like game. Game got two hours of goddamn. Con got hooks. some bridges, verse here and there and they were showing up, selling out ready to fight in the lobby because they couldn't get in wait ChazGBT is not aware of this Akon color crayon 10 years ago that was before even the internet so it was like a temporary thing I thought you were saying it was like a permanent name change no he had a crayon they put it in box they did a whole marketing campaign we sold about 5 million box of crayons.

1:00:04Yeah, Akon Black. I need to feed this information into Chab GBT so they can be more accurate the next time somebody asks about this. Chab GBT is still updating. It's a learning machine. Stuff that never made its way onto the internet, they have no idea. It's going to go populate. Next time, you're going to probably see all the runs and sales, everything. And you know what? I salute you too, bro, because I've seen your lifestyle and you was always humble. I learned that from you. No, that's what's happening. I know. You know what I'm saying? And not only that, your family life. A lot of people, you know, Akon's African.

1:00:42He ain't just had one wife. Right. But you can't name his wives. Anybody else, we can get you a lineup on the people they with. Yeah, how do you keep that so secret? That's what I'm saying. How do you keep your private life so secret? I'm not talking about it with niggas like, yo.

1:01:01But is that a part of you that wants to post a meaningful moment? No, you're totally comfortable leaving all that offline. Listen, the public will fuck up any good situation. He's been good at that. When it comes to your life, relationships, keep that shit far away from the internet as possible. You want to keep it successful. Are you still looking for new female talent, though? Oh, yeah. For your private life? No, not for private life. Oh, okay. Just entertainment. And I want to salute you for everything you did for T-Money, our brother. No, that's not it. And for a dollar, rest in peace. Man, rest in peace.

1:01:32You know what I'm saying? Absolutely. You know, you did a whole lot, open up a whole lot of doors, man. That's why when your name comes up, I'm like, bro, I done seen that dude bend over by. And this is at a time where he's building himself as an artist. But he's still building other artists, opening up doors, going into bills that's not his to represent this artist, to get them a check whether he signed them or not. Like, he was just doing so much for people, what you did for Ja. That's love. He was fresh out the feds, you know what I mean? So setting him up. We chose Calvin Klein, too, because Calvin Klein was the one that introduced me to Jha.

1:02:07Jha was actually still in jail. Klein had just got out. And then when I put Klein on, just like L, he was like, yo, man, my right hand is my brother. He's going to be coming out for him. You know, just look out for him. And when I met Jha, we locked in immediately. Jha the one checked that chin. Yeah. Yeah. Knocked your ass out one in the quarter. He stretched out with the little birdies flying around. That's a fact. See, that's the number one thing in life I'm trying to avoid. Oh, no, you're going to get it. Just like a really dramatic knockout. You're going to get it. I think it's going to be like a midget or something.

1:02:42Knock your ass out, though. You're going to jump on a stool. Jump off a loading dock. It's going to be dramatic for real. But the good thing about knockouts, you never know what happened to you. So listen. Yeah, I've had that. Until you wake up, right? So my question to y 'all, what can the fans expect from y 'all project-wise, feature wise we got an EP we got a single coming I know y 'all on the run what can they expect and when can they expect sheesh right now we got Air Mattress out that just dropped like two weeks ago that's 12 tracks that's a mixtape dope yeah now you go it's good it's a lot of bars a lot of hot energy on there it's it it's just getting you ready for the album the project Air Mattress yeah Air Mattress What's the name of y 'all group?

1:03:29Sheesh. Sheesh. Okay, Sheesh. Oh, so when they hear the music, Sheesh. Sheesh. Sheesh. How many E's in the Sheesh? Two. Sheesh. What if somebody were to stretch it out a little bit? That's fine, too. That's cool. Sheesh. That could be a dope concept. For every billion views, we're going to add an E. There you go. Hey, I like that. Yeah, we got our new single with our big brother, Ghetto, living on YouTube. is at 3 million views right now. Yeah, you just dropped that shit. Yeah. That dropped recently, three weeks ago, four weeks ago, something like that. I got you. So you guys on all platforms right now.

1:04:06Yep, all platforms. Follow us on all social medias at sheesh, S-H-E-E-S-H underscore convict, K-O-N-V-I-C-T. That's a fact. As I'm sitting here, I'm realizing that in my mind, Akon is very much like a superhero. No. He's like solid. he's like unblemished he seems like he will never grow old he's he seems like a workaholic you know it's 8 a.m he's in here casually he's just like he's cranking out music he's touring he's finding new artists he's he's building a city somehow which is kind of a superhero thing yeah a lot of superheroes kind of have their own city um yeah it feels like like you know where does the motivation come from for you to keep grinding your ass off it feels like you'll just you're just like unstoppable.

1:04:53Actually, I'm unstoppable. They trying to stop me now. All they can do is slow it down, but they ain't going to stop it. The motivation actually comes from just, it's like setting it from an example perspective. But me right now it's about legacy building, to be honest. Everything I'm doing now, I think, is going to carry my legacy into the next stage. For sure. And also, I want to add this in about the mixtape too. It's produced by our brothers Espy and E White and Press Play. So shout out to them as well. Press Play, that's my producer. He was even with Wack first. He got the intro. Yo, bro, listen.

1:05:30I'm going to tell you a funny story. I'm going to let him tell you. He got started from the old Wack ways. We had a garage. We turned into the studio. Right. But we didn't have no equipment. So back then, Press Play's name was Buck Weep. Oh, okay. He actually can rap as well. Wait, Press can rap too? He can rap, right? His name was Buckwheat, and he started off on the 9-track O2R board, right? Now, we didn't have no receipt for the board, right? But that's a whole other story, right? But shout out to Press Play. That's a good name, man. He's been with 20, I got 26 years in with him. That's what's up.

1:06:12He's a good dude for sure, man. That's my name. That's DJ Mackey's uncle. Ah. Mackie that was running with Flacco for a minute. The little youngster, that's his uncle. So, yeah, that's family. So, I know he delivered you some heat. Yeah, he got the intro. You know what I mean? I got a couple tracks on there I produced. My brother, Espy and E. White, they got the rest of it. And I'm going to tell you this, too. Because I know him. That ain't no act. Dude is that loyal. No, he is. He embraces the brand and becomes the brand. You'll start looking up like, man, nigga, you running with this harder than us.

1:06:44That's him. He just sent us a couple packs. No, that's him. Check out, you know what I mean? Yeah, that's him. Shout out COE, 5 Cent Fonda. El Cork, Indiana. No, don't worry about this to you. El Cork, Indiana. You know what I'm saying? My homie Jaime, AC, Luan, Fresh, Brody, Jack. Yeah. What up, three? Yeah, everybody. Yeah. Like we won an award in this month. For sure. Yo, Jump is the big thing out there for you. So, got a shout out to the family. I got a question. Why is T-Pain always hating on Drake? on Drake? Yeah. Does he? Yeah. Drake's fucking pointed this out. He's like that T-Pain never misses the opportunity to kind of throw shade at him.

1:07:26Because I know you and T-Pain had a complex relationship over the years. Who? Me and Payne? Yeah. That's my little brother. I love him to death. Me and Payne never had a shit. You guys have kind of competed a bit, right? Him and Budo, they like real brothers. They always going back and forth. I'm always the one breaking the niggas up. They love each other. T-Pain was a monster. No, he's still a monster. Payne is a different... He's an alien. that nigga so talented man oh my goodness pain is a different type of dude you and t pain in the verses you think you got that i could never do that he's my artist oh me and pain averse you can still compete just for the love of the game i'm gonna do it no anything that he's not gonna he's not gonna so you're yeah i noticed that in uh your drink champs interview that they were trying to get you to choose between all these different things and you fucked with both and you were just like nah like i feel like you you part of your longevity is like choosing not to take a side and stuff.

1:08:16Hey bro, down to when we used to be at the shows and the concerts and the chicks come back, if he had an inkling that anybody in the crew had their eye on that chick, he wouldn't even talk to her. Really? He wouldn't deal with her. Nope. That's always been him. He ain't going against his people for nothing. About nothing. But you're the alpha in that situation. You gotta show them what's up. That's what I'm saying. The beauty of being an alpha is like, he different. Y 'all can, like, they all are here for us, right? So you got a better chance if they feel like they can get through you to get to me, than me grip, like, think about it.

1:08:53They all here really for me. The bitches are here for me. Let's be honest. But my thing is, if the chicks feel like, okay, I ain't showing them no emotion, but this one over, these are my family members, they're going to try to go through them to get to me. That's a fact. And I got choices, so it's not like I need it. I'd rather them niggas eat first I mean literally eat first Yo what's that about I feel like it's impossible For a normal human being to understand How much vagina Is potentially available to Akon at an average tour stop Would you say that The average person just like doesn't get it And then if they found out Where niggas was staying Bro have you ever seen an elevator go up and down because the people wouldn't get off the elevator?

1:09:46We running this nigga through the fire escape. They wouldn't get off the elevator. It was crazy. I was like, yo, what the fuck? And back then, you know, he walking around shirt off. He chiseled up because they all working out. Yeah, we stayed working out. His whole security team was working out. And you know, he had that melodic vibe back then. He talking gangster shit in a melodic way. And he was the only one like him in the game. Yeah. Does that fan energy turn you off at a certain point though, especially at this point in your life? Never. Never. Whenever you think about it, you got to stop and ask yourself, okay, would you rather them put that energy on you?

1:10:25Or would you rather them just look at your ass and walk past because they don't know who the fuck you are? No, for sure. But I mean, but having sex with someone who's like a super crazy psycho fan is like a certain different risk, right? I mean, I can't really speak on it now, but back then, I prefer the fan. Really? The super psycho fan. Really? That's like him encouraging people. Like, be this level of fan. You might get to have sex with me one day. You enjoy it a lot better, I promise you. Listen, man, I'm going to go into manager mode because you told me something before we came in here and it's that time, right?

1:10:59So that's just me always being respectful of you. You're supposed to, like, not mention the fact that we went over the time. No, no, it's that time. We came in at 9.13. We came in at 8.13. He said a hard hour is 9.13. So, but this is why I kind of fucks with me. And he knows that I can, well, one thing he knows, he told me, he said, Wack, I didn't see you run point on security, management, labels, album clearances. Like, bro, you, you, you do it all. So, you know, because I know him sitting there, it's never been his job to keep track of time. It's always been other people's jobs to keep track of time.

1:11:32And these are his artists and he's used to being managed. and he's managing him. But you didn't come in here with a manager today, did you? No, but that's why he told me. You're in charge of the shit. But that's why he told me what he told me. I knew what he was doing. He'd be like, hey, I got a hard out. Y 'all got one out. It's just like usually someone in his position, there's like one or more people that are kind of like running things. Yeah, but he knew he was coming. You're more comfortable in that position. He knew where he was coming. If he was just been going to someone, it probably would have been that.

1:12:04but yeah like yesterday it was a little different he met us there before we even got there set it up wait what'd you guys do yesterday no uh we had a promo yeah we're doing all the she shit right now you know when I called him out to do the crazy shit with the crazy dude right what crazy dude uh what was his name again the pedophile yeah dude right what remember I had Khan do a segment with the dude he in jail I was seeing somewhere in Thailand or something yeah over there fucking around get out of here they locked him up and tell you she'll go help him he in Thailand he in Thailand Looking like about three to five years.

1:12:35No. Because he was running around. The dude, I put you on the phone with him. How did I forget his name, man? The dude I was doing to catch the predator. Chris Hansen. No, the other dude. What's his name? The white dude, I put you online with him. You had me called. You wanted me to. Damn, I just. I took Khan game. I took a bunch of people down there. Yeah, Vitaly. Vitaly. Vitaly went over there trolling. He was trolling the citizens and they locked his ass up. No, they got him locked up in Bangladesh, but I think he's about to get out. Some shit. I don't know. He's looking like a couple years.

1:13:03They were talking about him doing 20 years in there. He's been over there a couple months locked up. Are you serious? Yeah. They got all kinds of videos about the prisons. The prisons are fucked. No, but he's in Bangladesh. He's in Bangladesh? I think so, yeah. I thought he was in Thailand. Because you know about nuisance streamers? They go and they do live streams in public and just fuck with these random people. It's pretty fucked up. They locked his ass, sir. They weren't playing that shit over there. But even when he came to that, he know he coming to me. So when he got there, his normal program.

1:13:29Security there. Park locked down. so it was just like and I love that I've earned that trust in a lot of these people you would never find nobody till you Wack set them up Wack got you a rack might have went and got your jewelry back and make sure you didn't pay nothing or Wack did any of that when it comes to this business or this industry you ain't gonna find it now yep he kept his hands clean for sure that way alright Akon appreciate you man appreciate y 'all man shout out to Sheesh as well Sheesh yeah yeah sir Shout out to Wack for making this happen. Akon, Adam, Wack, she's, she's, she's.

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