Akon faced backlash when he claimed a few weeks back that he was happier when he was poor.
In a recent interview, he doubled down.
“Sometimes, when comments like that are made, like, me, always speak according to what I’m personally going through myself. Nobody can sit there and tell me that I didn’t go through poverty. I was the young African kid barefooted playing soccer in a village with no electricity, no running water, I know what that felt like. And believe me, I know what poverty looks like,” he told TMZ. “But I also know what success looks like. And from my personal experience, I’m having more problems successfully dealing with all that comes with success than I had when I was poor. I was actually happier when I was poor.”
Akon continues, “I would like to apologize to those who got affected emotionally by my statement and made me look like I was arrogant. Money is not always the cure. There’s rich people right now committing suicide, dying over overdoses. It’s not the money, it’s the mindset.”
AKON TALKS LIFE IN SENEGAL