Akon Explains Why He Lied About Being An African Prince

Akon was born in St. Louis, Missouri and lived in New Jersey, as well as Senegal. 

He talked about his upbringing in a recent interview on Drink Champs and said he used to lie about being an African prince. Mainly, because he wanted acceptance. [Head to the 2:53-mark].

"I used the excuse that I was a survivor, because it made me feel better about it,” said Akon. “But there was nothing for me to survive. Because my parents was actually really wealthy. I was living in New Jersey. We lived in a three-story house, just me and my older brother. So when I think about it, we were just bored as hell.”

He continued. "I think a lot of my choices came from wanting to be accepted. So that’s how I got caught into all the things that I got caught into, including cars. Because cars made me feel special. I was young, I could drive with the most elite vehicles, and I ran with the scenario that I was an African prince ... After Coming to America, I was like, ‘Sh*t.' That’s what motivated it."

One of the last times that Akon made headlines is when he said African artists are better performers than American artists.