There are two things that Senegal is famous for: Football and Akon, an American-Senegalese R&B singer who is making his way to Jakarta for his first solo concert in the capital on Nov. 13, where the theme will be “Big Outdoor Party.”
“We want the concert to be one of the biggest outdoor R&B nights in Jakarta, and we will definitely add interesting and attractive elements to surprise concert-goers,” Neelam Vaswani, marketing director of Marygops Studios, said in a press release.
Akon’s debut appearance in Jakarta was in October 2008 as one of the international headliners for Java Soulnation. In April 2008, Akon and 50 Cent canceled a concert here, which was promoted by JAVA Musikindo.
“We are happy to bring him back to Jakarta after the cancellation several years ago,” Peter Harjani, project and creative director of Marygops Studios, said in a press release. “I hope this time Akon won’t disappoint his fans in Indonesia, who have been waiting for the concert.”
Akon, who grew up in Newark, New Jersey, will release his fourth and latest album on Nov. 15. The debut single from the album, “Angel,” released last year, peaked at No. 56 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was used for Victoria Secret’s 2011 Secret Angels commercial. Akon also performed the song at last year's Victoria’s Secret fashion show.
Akon’s hit songs include “Right Now (Na Na Na),” “Sorry, Blame It on Me,” “Locked Up,” “Smack That,” “I Wanna Love You” and “Belly Dancer (Bananza).”
Akon has also collaborated with other big names in the music industry such as Eminem, Snoop Dogg and Gwen Stefani, and recorded a remix with Michael Jackson titled “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” which was released during the 25th anniversary relaunch of Michael Jackson's album “Thriller.”