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Akon spun off two number one pop hits and one number two from Konvicted, so he couldn't be blamed for working the same tricks on his third album, yet Freedom is a major change of pace -- the kind of drastic switch-up that normally happens after reaching a creative and commercial dead-end. Hip-hop and R&B are all but scrapped entirely. The set instead is rooted in the gleaming synthesizers and spring-loaded dance beats of Euro-pop. (That slamming jail-cell door trademark, deployed as much as ever, doesn't quite have the same alarming effect.) Akon sounds more comfortable than expected, and he reduces the lechery in favor of longing ("I wanna make up right now") and awe ("When I see you, I run out of words to say"). At times, the tensionless backdrops don't inspire Akon to do much with his pen; the chorus of "Beautiful" is basically "You're so beautiful, so damn beautiful," while falling for a stripper in "Against the Grain" is conveyed with "The way she drop down won't allow me to close my drawers." Even so, there's much more charm here than expected.
© Andy Kellman /TiVo
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Giorgio Tuinfort, Producer, Programmer, ComposerLyricist - Aliaune "Akon" Thiam, Producer, ComposerLyricist - Akon, Programmer, MainArtist - Mark "Exit" Goodchild, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2008 Universal Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc. and SRC Records, Inc.
Giorgio Tuinfort, ComposerLyricist - Aliaune "Akon" Thiam, Producer, ComposerLyricist - J. Harrow, ComposerLyricist - J. Wesley, ComposerLyricist - C. Colon, ComposerLyricist - Akon, MainArtist - Mark "Exit" Goodchild, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Kardinal Offishall, FeaturedArtist - Colby O'Donis, FeaturedArtist - Nate Hill, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Jaylien 2010, Producer, Co-Producer - Kaye Dunaway, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Ed Tidow, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2008 Universal Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc. and SRC Records, Inc.
Giorgio Tuinfort, Producer, Co-Producer, ComposerLyricist - Aliaune "Akon" Thiam, Producer, ComposerLyricist - Declan Gaffney, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Akon, MainArtist - Rob Gardner, Assistant Mixer, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Mark "Exit" Goodchild, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - M. Goodchild, ComposerLyricist - Nate Hill, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Trevor Shanks, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2008 Universal Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc. and SRC Records, Inc.
Aliaune "Akon" Thiam, Producer, ComposerLyricist - Akon, MainArtist - Rob Gardner, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Mark "Exit" Goodchild, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Richard Brown, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Sweet Rush, FeaturedArtist - T. Walls, ComposerLyricist - Chris Kraus, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Timothy ¿K-Figz¿ Walls, Producer, Co-Producer
℗ 2008 Universal Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc. and SRC Records, Inc.
C. Kelly, ComposerLyricist - Claude Kelly, Unknown, Other - Giorgio Tuinfort, Producer, Co-Producer, ComposerLyricist - Aliaune "Akon" Thiam, Producer, ComposerLyricist - Akon, MainArtist - Rob Gardner, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Mark "Exit" Goodchild, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Trent Privat, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Ed Tidow, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2008 Universal Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc. and SRC Records, Inc.
Dwayne Carter, ComposerLyricist - Aliaune "Akon" Thiam, Producer, ComposerLyricist - Lil Wayne, FeaturedArtist - Detail, Producer, Co-Producer, Programmer - Noel "Detail" Fisher, ComposerLyricist - Akon, Programmer, MainArtist - Mark "Exit" Goodchild, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Young Jeezy, FeaturedArtist
℗ 2008 Universal Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc. and SRC Records, Inc.
Aliaune "Akon" Thiam, Producer, ComposerLyricist - Javier Valverde, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - T-Pain, Producer, FeaturedArtist, ComposerLyricist - Akon, MainArtist - Mark "Exit" Goodchild, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - F. Romano, ComposerLyricist - Richard Brown, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - D. Balfour, ComposerLyricist - Nate Hill, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2008 Universal Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc. and SRC Records, Inc.
Aliaune "Akon" Thiam, Producer, ComposerLyricist - Nadir Khayat, ComposerLyricist - Redone, Producer - Akon, MainArtist - Rob Gardner, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Mark "Exit" Goodchild, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Ray Lavender, FeaturedArtist - E. Lavender, ComposerLyricist - Trent Privat, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Ed Tidow, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2008 Universal Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc. and SRC Records, Inc.
Aliaune "Akon" Thiam, Producer, ComposerLyricist - Sam Holland, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Leslie Brathwaite, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Hakim, Producer, Co-Producer - Akon, MainArtist - Mark "Exit" Goodchild, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Justin Trawick, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - H. Abdulsamad, ComposerLyricist
℗ 2008 Universal Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc. and SRC Records, Inc.
Aliaune "Akon" Thiam, Producer, ComposerLyricist - Wyclef Jean, FeaturedArtist - Nadir Khayat, ComposerLyricist - Leslie Brathwaite, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Redone, Producer - Akon, MainArtist - Mark "Exit" Goodchild, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Justin Trawick, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - N.W. Jean, ComposerLyricist - Mike Honeycutt, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2008 Universal Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc. and SRC Records, Inc.
N. Fisher, ComposerLyricist - Giorgio Tuinfort, Producer, Co-Producer, ComposerLyricist - Aliaune "Akon" Thiam, Producer, ComposerLyricist - Akon, MainArtist - Rob Gardner, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Mark "Exit" Goodchild, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Nate Hill, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Details, Producer, Co-Producer - Vincent ¿Life¿ Shaw, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2008 Universal Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc. and SRC Records, Inc.
C. Kelly, ComposerLyricist - Claude Kelly, Unknown, Other - Giorgio Tuinfort, Producer, Co-Producer, ComposerLyricist - Aliaune "Akon" Thiam, Producer, ComposerLyricist - Sam Holland, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Akon, MainArtist - Mark "Exit" Goodchild, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Nate Hill, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Joe Koubek, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Ed Tidow, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2008 Universal Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc. and SRC Records, Inc.
N. Fisher, ComposerLyricist - Giorgio Tuinfort, Producer, Co-Producer, ComposerLyricist - Aliaune "Akon" Thiam, Producer, ComposerLyricist - Kevin Mills, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Akon, MainArtist - Rob Gardner, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Mark "Exit" Goodchild, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Glenn Pittman, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Nate Hill, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2008 Universal Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc. and SRC Records, Inc.
Dwayne Carter, ComposerLyricist - Aliaune "Akon" Thiam, Producer, ComposerLyricist - Lil Wayne, FeaturedArtist - Detail, Producer, Co-Producer, Programmer - Noel "Detail" Fisher, ComposerLyricist - Akon, Programmer, MainArtist - Mark "Exit" Goodchild, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2008 Universal Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc. and SRC Records, Inc.
Album review
Akon spun off two number one pop hits and one number two from Konvicted, so he couldn't be blamed for working the same tricks on his third album, yet Freedom is a major change of pace -- the kind of drastic switch-up that normally happens after reaching a creative and commercial dead-end. Hip-hop and R&B are all but scrapped entirely. The set instead is rooted in the gleaming synthesizers and spring-loaded dance beats of Euro-pop. (That slamming jail-cell door trademark, deployed as much as ever, doesn't quite have the same alarming effect.) Akon sounds more comfortable than expected, and he reduces the lechery in favor of longing ("I wanna make up right now") and awe ("When I see you, I run out of words to say"). At times, the tensionless backdrops don't inspire Akon to do much with his pen; the chorus of "Beautiful" is basically "You're so beautiful, so damn beautiful," while falling for a stripper in "Against the Grain" is conveyed with "The way she drop down won't allow me to close my drawers." Even so, there's much more charm here than expected.
© Andy Kellman /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 14 track(s)
- Total length: 00:58:39
- 1 Digital booklet
- Main artists: Akon
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Konvict - Upfront - SRC - Universal Records
- Genre: Soul/Funk/R&B R&B
© 2008 Universal Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc. ℗ 2008 Universal Records & SRC Records Inc., a division of UMG Recordings
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