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.