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Thursday, May 10, 2007 12:00 AM

Akon's hump

Akon's hump

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Thursday, May 10, 2007 12:33 PM

And R Kelly is still

Having sex with and then urinating on children. On camera. And getting away with it.

Thursday, May 10, 2007 12:33 PM

Well that explains what he was going on about the other night

Went with the wife to see Gwen last weekend and towards the end of Akon's set he started going on (confusingly) about how he didn't need a certain sponsors money and then pulled out several bricks of cash and thew them into the crowd.

Sadly, we were WAY to far back to get any of that action.

Thursday, May 10, 2007 12:44 PM

Well said

I am no fan of Akon's but he is getting a raw deal. I find it hard to believe the Verizon didn't know what they got when they hired Akon to promote their product. He is what he has always been and for Verizon to now wag their finger and pretend they didn't know how overtly sexual and misogynistic Akon's style is is without question the height of hypocrisy. I have seen the still shots and video from the incident and while I thought it was too much there was no one in that audience of Akon fans that didn't know what he got up to during a performance. Akon comes as advertised, and I have yet to hear anyone say that he misled them into believing that he was anything but a hardcore rapper/performer.

Thursday, May 10, 2007 12:55 PM

Akon , Keith and FOB.

I don't think it's a fair comparison, what Akon did involved another human being. Yes, he's apologized and yes it was a 21 and over club so I don't think Akon is some horrible person but I can understand Verizon not wanting to promote a person who would "mistake" a 14 yr old for an adult when we have TV shows like to Catch a Predator and our nation is pretty obsessed with the pedophiles.

But taking drugs or taking pictures of your penis are things you do to yourself, not really to other people, though others can be effected by those actions. So I don't really think it's hypocritical.

Thursday, May 10, 2007 01:04 PM

So if R Kelly's stlil walking the streets...

Then if it's racism, it's finely tuned. Or it's biased towards dudes who can actually write credible tunes about the ass and the freaking thereof.

I haven't seen the video clip, but I'll assume for the sake of argument that it's egregious. If Verizon "fired Akon for doing the kind of thing it hired him for," then I want to see that contract, if only because I never knew "grinding on high school freshmen" was a corporately-prized skill set. R Kelly's consequences include indictments. Urban's and Wentz's were relatively victimless crimes (unless we insist on being heartbroken for, respectively, Nicole Kidman and legions of underage female mallpunks). Akon humped an young girl in public. He loses a couple sponsors. Two more hooks on Jeezy tracks and he'll be back in black. He and R can hook up for "The Sort of Best of the Same World" tour in 2011.

Aand does Michelle Malkin really have that much clout? I mean, O'Reilly and Luda, fine. But Malkin? I didn't think she could influence a TRL lineup. I hope she's good at reedy, faux-soulful choruses. America's got needs, Shelly.

And Akon's a singer, not a rapper. He's got cadences 'n' stuff, sure, but his calling card is that diluted jar of molasses he calls pipes. In the vast spectrum of hip-hop, he is nowhere near "hardcore".

Thursday, May 10, 2007 01:16 PM

couple of problems with article

First, Akon isn't a rapper, he is a singer. I'm not sure why he would be called a rapper if the writer did hear his songs. Second, is talking about sex in a song now misogynist? If so alot of songs throughout history need to be reclassified.

Thursday, May 10, 2007 01:28 PM

@Brad

Actually, from what I hear, seeing Wentz's willy made many of those mallgirls quite happy.

Thursday, May 10, 2007 01:43 PM

RE: Fuck Verizon!

I cannot believe this shit!

A company whose efforts toward being innovative always lean toward merging to gain more market power now wants to play COP.

What a bunch of bullshit!

The nerve of a company that has as a strategy making sure wireless communication doesn't cut into inefficient land lines and cables they want the public to subsidize is absurd, disgusting, abusive, and, immoral!

What's next?

What the fuck is next?

I know.

Charging more for services they'll help restrict!

This story should have listed the individuals who made the decision on removing AKON from tour. Please do if you have the time. I'd very much like to write them a letter telling them what scum they are!

PS (Just in case the Right Wing Weirdos think people can't read between the lines let me add that IMUS ain't coming back. No matter how many African-Americans are blamed for his failure IMUS is done....and that's a good thing!)

Thursday, May 10, 2007 02:50 PM

Some tidbits about Akon

* He has multiple "wives" (they aren't technically married) and claims that everybody he knows has multiple girlfriends.

* When asked if he lives with all of his wives, he said: "Come on, you can’t live with the women if you’re going to do it. It would ruin a situation like that." He's also said, "As men, that's our situation, we're natural breeders. If women took the time to understand our behavior, it wouldn't be such a problem." So apparently, all women just need to understand that all men cheat, and then we can live together in harmony.

* He used to be a car thief.

* He owns a diamond mine and claims that there are no ethical problems in the diamond industry

I hate to agree with Michelle Malkin, but I think he is a misogynist and he's morally bankrupt. Have you seen the videos circulating? It's a far cry from Elvis. It is vulgar. I think he's tacky and offensive, and I was wondering why Gwen Stefani and major corporations were sponsoring and tacitly approving of his actions.

Also, not every black musician is a rapper. Akon is not a rapper. And everything I've read about what happened in Trinidad has stated that the club is 18 and over. How about some fact checking?

This column made me want to bang my head against the wall.

Thursday, May 10, 2007 03:24 PM

I couldn't feel less sorry for this dope

It annoys we that liberated female singers like Gwen Stefani will work with this creep, who has a slew of misogynistic statements on record - song lyrics not included - and who has indeed denied the state of affairs in the brutal diamond mining industry. I can't stand the guy, and I don't think Verizon whould have signed him in the first place. I smell greed and bad research on their part.

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