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Lonely? No way buddy!

The popularity of the single `Lonely' is making hip-hop fans wait eagerly for Akon's debut album

PERSONAL TOUCH Akon's unique music is attributed to the rich legacy of his musician-father

It's common these days to see a particular song that is extremely catchy creating an interest in the artiste of the song and the album in which the song is featured. This is precisely because cutthroat competition between television music channels and private radio stations ensures that the videos are released on-air before the albums hit the music stores. Some tracks pass by without getting noticed, while a few of them stay in our mind - and the ones which stay become popular even before the album is released. A recent example of this phenomenon is a track called Lonely by a debutant hip-hop artiste called Akon.

A couple of weeks back or so, Indian audiences were introduced to the eye-catching video of Lonely and the mellow but groovy tune of the track. It instantly created a buzz in the college circuits with yuppie guys and gals trying their hand at imitating the electronically-created opening line of the track which goes Lonely, I'm so lonely/I've nobody/To call my own.... The clubs in the metros are mixing it on the turntables and FM request shows are featuring it. All this before the formal release of Akon's debut album Trouble this week.

Born in Senegal, Akon has a family heritage in music with his father Mor Thiam being a legendary percussionist and jazz musician who created a name for himself with his unique abilities to play a traditional African drum called Djembe. Akon has apparently derived his sensibilities in music from the rhythms evolving from the drum, and though his brand of hip-hop music does not feature the Djembe, Akon has them playing in his mind when he composes the tunes. The fact that Akon has played seven different percussion instruments before making up his mind to settle for hip-hop music, gives him brownie points and so does an intensely personal touch to the lyrics in Trouble.

Just as he was about to be slotted as a one-hit-wonder, Akon released the video for his second single called Bananza, which has been a slow starter, but one can hope the track to make it big in the days to come. But it is Lonely that everybody seems to be waiting to get their hands at. Akon has hit jackpot with his debut effort. Let's hope his loneliness sells next time around as well.

A. VISHNU

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