AKON has teamed up with Stephen Marley for the song Just a Man, the lead single from the R&B singer’s album, Stadium.
Stadium is a ‘quintuple’ set, done in five genres: Euro, Pop, Urban, Island and World Beat.
Jamaican producer Dwayne ‘Supa Dups’ Chin-Quee and Jason ‘JG’ Gilbert co-produced Just a Man. Supa Dups spoke to the Sunday Observer about working with Akon.
“This is not the first time I’ve worked with Akon and it is truly a pleasure every time. He is incredibly talented and has not ceased to impress me since my first experience with him 10 years ago when I produced the track Kill the Dance, which also featured (Canadian rapper) Kardinal Offishall,” said Supa Dups.
Kill the Dance is on the Kopa ‘riddim’, produced by Supa Dups and his Black Chiney sound system. That project yielded Billboard chart singles in Father Elephant by Elephant Man, and Nina Sky’s Turnin Me On which featured Baby Cham.
Supa Dups commented on the origins of Just a Man.
“A while back, Akon and I envisioned putting together a reggae project. Being that reggae is one of my specialties, I was thrilled,” he said. “Ultimately, we ended up only doing two songs, Just a Man, co-written by Stacy Barthe, was one of them.”
Stadium is Akon’s fourth studio album. It continues his relationship with Jamaican artistes and producers.
His debut, Trouble, was released in 2004 and sold over three million copies in the United States. It contained the track Gunshot, co-written by another Jamaican producer, Dave Kelly.
His 2006 album Konvicted also sold over three million copies in the US. It contained the track Don’t Matter which sampled Bob Marley’s Zimbabwe.
A cover of Peter Tosh’s Mama Africa is on that album.
Akon collaborated with Beenie Man on the track Girls, from the latter’s Virgin Records album Undisputed in 2006.
Two years later, Akon appeared on singer Tami Chynn’s number three Billboard Dance single Frozen, which he co-produced. He also produced Brick and Lace’s 2008 debut album Love is Wicked, released on his Kon Live label.