Akon to release 'Konvicted' in december

By: Janine Coveney

Singer and rapper Akon is putting the finishing touches on his sophomore album, titled Konvicted, due December 12th. The Senegalese-born artist's first single from the set is "Smack That" featuring Eminem. Other guests on the new album include Snoop Dogg and Styles P.

Konvicted is the follow-up to Akon's multi-platinum 2005 debut Trouble, which featured the singles "Locked Up" and "Lonely." Last November the singer released Trouble: Deluxe Edition, including a second bonus disc featuring never-before-released remixes.

Akon has also become a sought-after songwriter and producer. He did the first-ever approved remix for an India.Arie song, "I Am Not My Hair," and also worked on Young Jeezy's "Soul Survivor," which he wrote and remixed.

Akon is also working on a movie about his life, which shows how the singer overcame a prison stint to becoming a recording artist, which he felt was his only career option as a convicted felon. He said: "I got locked up, was a convicted felon, couldn't really get a regular steady job, the only way I could really make it without getting into something crazy was basically through music. And that was crazy because that was actually what kept me going through all this time and trouble I was going through and that was my way of venting it out."