Akon serves up more hits on 'Freedom'

01/27/09 - When we last heard Akon, he was tearing it up at the Ryan Center back in April. He was making his way back and forth across the stage, singing parts of songs that he had released with other artists. He was making his way through the crowds with his shirt off. He was letting college girls caress his body. He was sweating, and falling onto students who had waited hours for his arrival on the stage. He was singing about how he would take the blame for certain mistakes. He was singing that it "Don't Matter," and that he was "Tired of Runnin'."

Eight months later Akon has released a new CD and he is making noise "Right Now (Na Na Na)."

On Dec. 2, 2008 Akon, Universal Records and SRC Records released his latest CD, "Freedom."

Immediately the CD took off. Four songs received airtime on radio stations and top spots on iTunes. "Right Now," "I'm So Paid;" featuring Lil Wayne and Young Jeezy, "Beautiful" featuring Colby O'Donis and Kardinal Offishall, and "Troublemaker" featuring Sweet Rush have all been released to radio stations.

All have been huge successes. Once all these songs were deemed overplayed, there'll be an assortment of nine other songs to choose from as the rest of the CD is a collection of sure hits.

I've always had a thing for Akon since his early hit "Lonely." I don't even care that he doesn't sing entire songs normally, or that a lot of his songs have similar beats. Every song is catchy, and that remains the same on "Freedom."

The CD begins with the hit "Right Now," which focuses on urges that Akon has at that exact moment - making for the ultimate radio and club hit. "Beautiful" follows "Right Now," with a techno beat to introduce it and then breaks into an R & B beat, again perfect for the club atmosphere. Here, Akon serenades a "beautiful" girl in the club telling her how much he wants to be with her.

Next on the CD, we hear a more vulnerable Akon as he sings about how he "Wishe[s] He Could Keep You Much Longer." Who the "You" is doesn't seem to matter, as the lyrics reflect how his heart is breaking because his girl is leaving him after he made a huge mistake.

Then, the convict himself (as he would refer to himself in many of his older songs), sings about how he is a troublemaker, in his hit song, "Troublemaker." Girls sing in the background about how he is a heartbreaker and he responds by telling them he can't be trusted and that he is a troublemaker-not so vulnerable anymore.

Don't worry ladies, Akon, shows his vulnerable side again later on the CD in the songs "Against the Grain," "Be With You," and "Birthmark." In these songs he slows the beat down a bit. In "Against the Grain" he sings of making the mistake of falling in love even though his friends warned him not to.

And in "Be With You" he sings about how he just wants to be with this girl no matter what people say, repeating the idea of his older hit, "Don't Matta." Last, in "Birthmark," he discusses the meeting between two people as representing a "birthmark," and how every year on that date he is reminded of that special someone. Oh Akon-you crooner, you.

Of course these are his only slower songs on the CD as he picks the beat up in "We Don't Care," "I'm So Paid," "Holla, Holla," "Over the Edge," and "Freedom."

That leaves one more song on Akon's CD entitled, "Sunny Day," where Akon sings about his "ghetto life fading away." He refers to this day, of course, as his "sunny day."

And a sunny day it is for Akon as he brings fans in repeatedly from CD to CD, singing over and over again over lost love, mistakes made, and how he grew up. I fall for it every time - and clearly many others do too, as "Freedom" and its hit singles have been selling well for the last month.