Grammy-nominated Locked Up singer Akon arrested

 Singer Aliuane Thiam, known as Akon, was arrested in Georgia on an out-of-county warrant and spent six hours behind bars before being released, it was reported today.

The 52-year-old was taken into custody on 7 November. The warrant for his arrest was issued from Roswell, New Mexico, and involved a case regarding his driver's license and an alleged missed court date.

According to legal documents, a warrant was issued for the star after he missed a court date in January 2023, and this warrant was discovered when police in September when they ran his plate after his car broke down in the middle of the road. He was cited for driving on a suspended license, but released the same day.

On Friday (7 November) he was arrested on the outstanding warrant. A representative for Thiam told The Mirror that this was a "clerical issue" and would "soon be rectified in the courts".

"Due to a clerical issue the suspended license should have never been escalated, it was paid but not properly entered into the system. This will be soon rectified in the courts in early December."

According to jail records, the singer was booked into DeKalb County Jail by Chamblee Police. The officers arrested him after his Tesla triggered a security camera alert linked to the Roswell warrant.

One officer, Joshua Rosa, wrote in a report that he found the car outside of Tint World, a shop that tints windows, on Chamblee Dunwoody Road, and that Thiam was standing nearby. Police confirmed Thiam was the wanted person running his license plate.

Officer Rosa wrote that the singer "complied by remaining calm" and informed the police that he knew of the warrant for his arrest.

Thiam was searched and taken into custody at DeKalb County Jail. The Sheriff's Office later confirmed to TMZ that they had arrested Thiam but "he's already been let out of jail".

The R&B singer is a five-time Grammy nominee and rose to fame in the early 2000s with hits including Locked Up and Smack That. He is regarded as one of the most distinctive voices of the decade, having also collaborated with the likes of Snoop Dogg and Lady Gaga.

Recently, he had been focusing on philanthropic projects, such as his Akon Lighting Africa initiative, which aims to provide solar power to thousands across the continent.

He has also looked into tech and development projects and has planned his own futuristic city in Senegal called Akon City. Announced in 2018, the project was thought to have a potential cost £4.7 billion and was dubbed a "real-life Wakanda".

It was inspired by the setting of Marvel's Black Panther. It would have been near the coastal town of Mbodiene and would have been powered by the singer's own cryptocurrency Akoin.