Akon, stage name for Senegalese-American singer Aliaune Damala Badara Akon Thiam, claims that he and Jackson had planned to create music schools across Africa, including Uganda. With Jackson’s untimely death in 2009, however, the ambitions to improve music education in Africa were abruptly derailed.
In a recent interview in New York City, Akon explained that the plan he and Jackson had hatched involved establishing a chain of music schools around the continent in an effort to reach the continent’s lyrical souls.
Akon claims that he and Jackson wanted to give children access to instruments, facilities, and knowledge about the music industry to help them develop their talents. According to him, Jackson believed Africa to be a vast resource containing some of the world’s most brilliant musical talents.
Akon laments once again that Jackson passed away in 2009 before they could begin construction on any of the schools they had planned. Akon, however, claims that he has not given up on the idea and still has faith that it will be realized.