Akon, November 2009

I love movies. He’s a movie goer and he loves movies as well. He’s like, “Yo man, I gotta take you to the theatre, this new technology they got, it’s like 4D, it feels like you’re feel like you’re in the midst of it.”

I’m like “Nah, I know 3D…”

And he’s like “No, you really gotta check this out.” So he paused for a minute and he’s like, “Okay, let’s do it tomorrow.”

And I’m thinking to myself, I don’t know how we gonna expect to go to the movies – this is Michael Jackson! How the hell are we gonna go to the movies?

So next day he calls my room, we’re both staying at the Palm in Las Vegas. He’s like, “Are you ready? I’m ready.”

I’m like, “Yeah, let me get dressed.” At the time I thought he was joking, I thought he was probably gonna just rent. I thought we were gonna go to the back, late late night or something. This is broad daylight. So he grabs the kids, they looking normal. Then Mike comes out, he has this disguise on. So I starts laughing, ’cause I didn’t even recognize him. It wasn’t like he even had a fake mustache or a fake wig on, or nothing, he just had a simple hoodie on. He could’ve easily passed to be a Saudi or something, know what I’m saying?

We go to the mall, going on the elevator going down, going to the hotel where they have the IMAX thing. Soon as we get in all these kids start coming running towards us. So I’m like damn, I think they know who he is. And all these kids just start come running up to me asking me for an autograph. So I’m like, should I toss them off before they recognize who he is or should I play it cool? He shakes his head like, you gotta do what you gotta do.

So I’m signing autographs, taking pictures, and I’m looking at these kids faces, and they don’t even know that Mike is standing right next to me! If they only knew this guy was standing right next to me! You know how much havok that would cause?

So we get to the theatre, manager meets us up front, he hands us the tickets. We’re all seated, so as we’re talking I forget that he’s supposed to be in disguise and I keep calling him, “Mike.” I see this girl and she looks over and I think she recognizes him, I really think she does. So when I realize she’s peeping I start calling him “Dave.” (laughs) But she wasn’t stupid. So she runs up, full speed, goes all the way to the top of the theatre, and I see her whispering and I see her pointing, and I know she wasn’t pointing at me, I know it, and I think he kinda felt it too.

Right before the movie was over we all got up and started to walk out. But by the time we got to the car everyone in that place knew that possibly coulda been him. It was the funniest thing.

He’s extremely funny, he laughs a lot, he just likes to have fun.

Akon Remembers His 'Cool, Funny' Friend Michael Jackson


Akon has recorded tracks with some of the biggest and brightest stars in music. But there's one star who was bigger and brighter than all the rest: Michael Jackson.

In 2007, Akon spent time in a Las Vegas studio with the King of Pop, writing and recording songs for what Jackson intended to be his comeback album. Nearly three years later, only two of those songs have surfaced: a remix of Jackson's "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" that appeared on the 25th anniversary edition of MJ's Thriller album and "Hold My Hand," a track featuring both artists (but written by Claude Kelly), that made the file-sharing rounds last year.

And after Jackson's death in June, who knows when more of the tracks will see the light of day? Akon said that he and Jackson recorded "days" of material, most of which never made it past the demo stages. And, really, he's not that concerned if they are ever released, because, in the wake of Jackson's passing, Akon would prefer to reminisce about the man, not the music
"My favorite moment was the day we actually met, because I didn't expect him to be that cool," Akon said in MTV's "Michael Jackson's Human Nature" special. "I expected him to be this diva — just hard to deal with, rarely speaks, got to send his message through someone else, you know? Because these are the stories you hear."

Before they recorded a note of music, Akon had a sitdown meeting with Jackson, one that began predictably — and seemed to confirm the producer's worst fears — but quickly became a life-changing event.

"So I'm going upstairs [to meet him], I knock on the door, his bodyguard opens and says, 'OK, he's waiting to meet you.' I walk in and [Michael's] in this spinning chair, but it's facing backwards, so I walk in the room, but his back is turned, and the guard says, 'Hey, Mike, Akon's here.' So he spins around, like it was choreographed — so right away I was like, 'Oh boy,' " he laughed.

"But as soon as he turns around, gets up, 'Yo, what up, man?!' and I was like, 'What up, Mike?' and he gave me a pound, we hugged each other. He's like, 'Yo, I've been waiting to meet you for so long, this is a great honor, thanks for showing up, thanks for making the time.' And in my mind I'm like, 'You know, I should be thanking you for making the time.'

"It was the craziest thing, because we sat down, we talked about Africa, we talked about my foundation [Konfidence], we talked about the music, we talked about girls. We had a great, incredible time that day," he continued. "He was extremely funny, he told jokes, and he liked to have fun."