Multiplatinum and award-winning singer and producer Akon once said he took a self-imposed moratorium from the music industry in a magnanimous gesture to let others shine. While maybe partially true, many fans will now believe the prolific hitmaker went on hiatus from creating hits so that he can create a vision for a real-life magical city.
Akon, a St. Louis-born son of Senegalese parents whose real name is Aliaume Damala Badara Akon Thiam, alternated between the United States and the West African nation of Senegal during his formative years. It is in Senegal that the singer plans to build “Akon City, a $6 billion “real-life Wakanda” that will begin construction in 2021, according to USA Today.
Wakanda, the fictional paradise in Africa that is featured in the record-breaking blockbuster movie Black Panther, has returned to the national consciousness since the death of the film’s star, actor Chadwick Boseman, on Friday, Aug. 28, 2020.
Akon is building the city with the backing of the Senegalese government and hopes to serve several purposes simultaneously: to provide more jobs for the citizens of Senegal; unveil the natural majesty of the misunderstood and mischaracterized continent, particularly West Africa; and to serve as a “home back home” for African Americans who suffer from unrelenting and historical injustices in the United States.
“The system back home treats them unfairly in so many different ways that you can never imagine. And they only go through it because they feel that there is no other way,” he said, according to USA Today.
The futuristic city, Akon told the media, will feature hotels, a seaside resort, tech hub, recording studio, hospital, police station and his own cryptocurrency already called AKoin. Interestingly enough, one of the three albums Akon released in 2019 was called Akonda, a combination of his stage name and Wakanda.
Akon posted photos of his visit with Senegal President Macky Stall for his 7.3 million Instagram followers.
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Akon, 47, has already been adopted as a full-fledged Senegalese citizen and said he has secured $2 billion of the $6 billion needed to complete this city.
To learn more about his vision, visit akoncity.com.
