Akon Passed up Signing Drake Because He ‘Sounded Like Eminem’
Shirley Ju Akon may be best known for his catalog of hits like “Lonely” and “I Wanna Love You,” but he’s run a parallel career as a record executive, signing Lady Gaga to his KonLive label via Interscope (the two have since parted ways) and his Konvict Muzik imprint, which was founded in 2004 and over the years has included T-Pain, rapper Kardinal Offishall, singer Kat Deluna and many others — and nearly included Drake, but Akon actually passed on signing him.Akon recently revealed in a VladTV interview he had to the chance to sign Drizzy back in 2005, but passed because “Drake sounded more like Eminem.”“Kardinal Offishall brought him [Drake] to me in 2005, I think it was, or 2004,” Akon recalled.