Akon used to call himself an 'African prince' during his school days
“Literally, like every other month, I would come to school in a different car… I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’m an African prince'."
Akon is proud of his African roots.
The superstar, who has Senegalese parents, was born in St. Louis, Missouri before relocating to New Jersey. However, Africa holds a special place in his heart because he spent most of his childhood in Senegal.
The 'Lonely' hitmaker says growing up in New Jersey, he came up with lies to help him fit in.
Talking to N.O.R.E and DJ EFN on the 'Drink Champs' TV show, the singer says he claimed to be an African prince because it made him feel better.
“I used the excuse that I was a survivor because it made me feel better about it,” he said. “But there was nothing for me to survive. Because my parents were actually really wealthy. I was living in New Jersey. We lived in a three-story house, just me and my older brother. So when I think about it, we were just bored as hell.”
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Akon says he also struggled with being accepted and used his parents' wealth to help him gain recognition.
“I think a lot of my choices came from wanting to be accepted, you know? So that’s how I got caught into all the things that I got caught into, including cars. Because cars made me feel special.
“Literally, like every other month, I would come to school in a different car… I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’m an African prince.’ And they believed it because of the whip that I was driving in!
"I was young, I could drive with the most elite vehicles, and I ran with the scenario that I was an African prince.”
The 50-year-old says the idea of being an African prince was inspired by the 1988 Eddie Murphy comedy, 'Coming to America'.
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