The “wisdoms” of Akon

When the Senegalese-American singer Akon is not claiming to provide electricity around the continent, he gives interviews. The latest, to Larry King, is a train wreck because of Akon's reactionary's views. For those in the know, this is peak Akon.

A still from Akon's interview with Larry King.

The Senegalese-American R&B singer Akon may be a very talented musician, but he has terrible politics. And he likes to share them. Remember in 2010 when George W Bush was still President in the United States and Akon opined to rap magazine, The Source” that “… (black people in the US) can nag about the president all they want and how the system is against black people, but if they saw how other people lived (in Africa) they would see how blessed they really are. All the decisions they think the government has made against black people really are for black people here”?

Then in 2011, Akon defended US President Barack Obama against rapper Lupe Fiasco’s criticisms of Obama’s destructive Middle Eastern policies.  There was also Akon’s association with the very unpopular Senegalese President, Abdoulaye Wade (who was eventually voted out) or with the corrupt government of Gabon and that party anthem he wrote for New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s doomed presidential run.

Now, this from a few weeks ago–on Larry King’s new show (King got dumped by CNN) on some obscure cable channel to promote the “Akon Lighting Africa Project,” by which Akon claims to provide electricity to a large swathe of the continent. The interview is a train wreck because of Akon’s reactionary’s views.

Here’s Akon speaking from “an honest male’s perspective” about gender relations:

He also had this to say about the use of the N-word in the NFL:

We just can’t anymore with Akon.

Further Reading

Akon makes no sense

The Senegalese-American R&B singer, Akon, imagines himself some kind of African political leader and regularly opines on comparisons between African countries and the US. We wished he didn’t.