Whatever obstacle comes your way, you gotta be prepared to jump over it! And I think that's what separates the legends from the regular artists. It's all in how you manage that success, and how you deal with the controversy when it actually comes.

My ideas come when I least expect it, so I've always got to have a studio nearby or close by somewhere.

Any album that you pick up of mine, you know it's an Akon album. The guests are very limited and you get to really feel the experience. You get the Akon experience when you get the albums. I always want to make sure that stays the way it is. I don't want to flood the album to where you lose focus on why you bought it.

When I first heard hip-hop I thought it was rubbish because I didn't understand the concept of people talking over music.

I'm a polygamist. I can afford to have as many wives as I can afford to have. All Africans believe in it. My dad has four wives.

I don't want to know I'm getting older. Then I'll start to think about getting checkups and insurance. I don't want that.

As long as you're giving up quality records and you're makin' hit records, people are always gonna want to hear a hit and they'll always want to be attached to something that's doin' great.