‘I was expecting a lot of sunlight!” said Akon, the Senegalese-American soul-R&B-hip-hop composer-singer who performed at the Araneta Coliseum the night of the infamous sosyal revolution, dubbed by one giant multimedia network as the “Manila Peninsula Takeover.”

As the tank fired at the rebels and the marines barged inside The Pen, the view of the skyline from the glass windows of Serendipity Lounge on the 22nd floor of Discovery Suites, where Akon met the local press, was far from being sunny.

Then again, it was an afternoon when you wish you’re tucked inside the comfort of your bed and pillows for a longer siesta. It’s the perfect weather for lots of beer with friends in the neighborhood or at work, far from the chaos created by “revolutionaries” and nature outside.

As usual, Akon answered questions both dumb and well-prepared from the members of the local media present. Topping them all was: “Have you met any local rap artists or musicians? If you did, who do you want to work with in the future?”

Akon was planed in at 7 pm on Wednesday and, naturally, his answer: “You know, it’s my first time to be here and I haven’t met any musician or singer. But I have Filipino-American friends in the US who were surprised when I told them I’m coming here to perform. They were excited, though most of them haven’t been here.”

Mercifully, someone asked about his Senegalese roots and the underprivileged children in Africa, and Akon answered: “I’m glad I’m where I am now and I’m doing the best I could to help those children. If they were in my situation right now, I think they will do the same. That’s why I have my own foundation that aims to help my brothers and sisters in Africa.”

The charity is called Konfidence Foundation. He also owns a clothing line called Konvict Clothing and a record label, Kon Live Distribution. For those who haven’t visited akononline.com or read everything about him via Wikipedia, let it be known that he regarded his five years in jail as the turning point in his life.

On separate occasions, he was convicted—thus the title of his second album, Konvicted (available in Platinum Edition and Special Philippine Edition, exclusively distributed by MCA Music)—for car theft, armed robbery and drug trafficking. Just listen to his songs and you’ll know he has led a colorful past. He added that music saved him for what he is today. But he did things the way he wanted it.

Still fresh from our mind at the Serendipity Lounge, someone asked him how he balances the creative side and the business aspect when he writes, sings and produces.

“That’s the sad part back home. Producers tend to dictate us what to sing and what kind of songs to write. But it must be the other way around. Musicians should compose, sing and record what they want to. It’s their creativity that sets the trend in the first place. Look at the Motown artists and the blues-soul-jazz-reggae pioneers who were never afraid to do their own thing. Their originality is the one responsible for the songs that we enjoy now. So producers must be the one who must follow the artists, not the other way around,” he answered, bringing a modest round of applause.

He confessed to only one wife, but admitted having fathered five children to three different women. His religion is Islam. His real name is something for the Guinness World of Records: Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam.

Contrary to earlier reports, he was born in Saint Louis, Missouri, not in Senegal. Then again, he spent his growing-up years between Dakar, Senegal and Jersey City, New Jersey.  Nowadays, he regards Atlanta, Georgia, as his homebase. His father is a professional jazz percussionist named Mor Thiam, thus explaining his early exposure to different kinds of music.

It’s not hard to fathom the secret of Akon’s success.

For someone who has served time, he knows a lot about freedom, about being free not only  from the cold, damp, lonely prison cells but also creatively. He writes and performs his songs the way he wants to, free from the claws of the profit-driven industry that now regards him as an icon.

As rebels Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and Brig. Gen. Danny Lim, along with fellow Magdalo soldiers, were brought to Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Akon shook the Big Dome with his many hits that include “Smack That,” “Don’t Matter,” “Sorry, Blame It On Me” and  “I Wanna Love You.”

And no “mutiny” or curfew could stop Akon and his fans from doing what they love to do.

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Akon’s the icon

‘I was expecting a lot of sunlight!” said Akon, the Senegalese-American soul-R&B-hip-hop composer-singer who performed at the Araneta Coliseum the night of the infamous sosyal revolution, dubbed by one giant multimedia network as the “Manila Peninsula Takeover.”