London, Mar 27 : R&B singer Akon debuted a song at the United Nations in New York to commemorate the victims of the slave trade, past and present.

He launched "Blood Into Gold" on Wednesday - the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery.

"I will do my part to spread the word - a lot of my US friends are not aware of the history [of slavery]," The BBC quoted him, as saying.

Akon, real name Aliaune Thiam, was born in St Louis, Missouri, but spent much of his youth living in Senegal.

Washington, Feb 17 : Hip-hop star Akon and Hollywood actress Gabrielle Union have offered support to Rihanna, who was allegedly attacked by Chris Brown, and have urged her to be strong.

The `Umbrella' hitmaker was left with a split lip, a bloody nose and bite marks on her hands after Brown allegedly attacked her following a heated argument.

However, after much of speculation over the incident, Brown has publicly said that he was `saddened' by the incident, which left Rihanna needing hospital treatment.

Washington, Dec 6 : Popstar Akon is considering a move into the film industry.

The ‘Smack That’ hitmaker has expressed his plans to retire from music career and turn to acting.

“On the movie side, acting is something I will entertain later. Now I''m into more of the behind the scenes stuff: producing the movies, scoring the movies, doing the soundtracks, and slowly I''ll make my way in,” Contactmusic quoted Akon, as saying.

Akon stated that he is waiting to fulfill his music commitments before moving his base to Hollywood.

Washington, Dec 4 : Rapper Akon is adamant that he would not tone down his vulgar stage shows, as he feels the controversy surrounding his antics motivates him to be more inventive with his performance.

The ‘Beautiful’ hitmaker was warned against performing vulgar stage acts, after he was blasted for simulating sex on-stage with an underage fan.

Akon was also dragged into a lawsuit when he threw a fan into the crowd during a concert in New York; he has also been accused of assaulting two female fans at a concert.

However Akon feels the other way, as he thinks that the controversy has made him more imaginative and the power to be more interactive with the fans.

London, November 18: Rapper Akon says that he would love to teach British Prince Harry how to rap.
The singer became desirous of giving singing lessons to Harry after he came to know that the latter was a huge fan of his, and knew his hit ‘Smack That’ inside out.

He even said that he wanted to bring Harry on a record.

"Prince Harry is the man. I want to hook up with him when I''m in London because I heard he''s a fan,” the Mirror quoted Akon, whose album Freedom is scheduled for release on December 2, as saying.

London, Nov 11  Hip hop and R&B singer Akon has revealed that he would borrow F1 champ Lewis Hamilton’s girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger if he ever gets a chance to play James Bond.

Akon is determined to play the secret agent even if he is never offered the role, and he also knows that he would not hesitate to pick ‘Pussycat Dolls’ stunner Scherzinger as his love interest.

“My ideal Bond girl would be Nicole. I think she’d be perfect,” the Sun quoted him a saying.