Akon has teamed up with Vevo “CTRL” for a live performance of “Locked Up,” the lead single from his monumental 2004 debut, Trouble.
The song, which has become a classic staple in Akon’s wide-reaching discography, shares the singer’s reflections of his time in prison. He sings about being behind bars and the wide reaching implications that led to his road to redemption. He croons: “I’m steady tryna find the motive/ Why I do what I do?/ Freedom ain’t getting no closer/ No matter how far I go/ My car is stolen/ No registration/ Cops patrollin’/ Now they done stop me and I get locked up.” Even more than 20 years later, the words still hit powerfully.
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The song was originally identified as a crossover cut from Akon and his team. “‘Locked Up’ is a street record,” SRC Records A&R Jerome Foster told Hit Quarters. “I thought that was the place for us to start, knowing that we had a record like ‘Lonely’ to follow it.” Foster was right, as “Locked Up” was a success, reaching No.8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earning the star a Top Five hit on the Official U.K. Singles Chart.
Much of the entire Trouble album was recorded as a reflection of Akon’s time as a convicted felon. “I came out and recorded it, but it was like a dead end at that point cause I wasn’t really into the music thing,” he told Ozone in 2005. The singer further explained that he made the album because he “couldn’t get a regular job cause I was a convicted felon.” He added: “You can only make but so much money as a felon. A fast food restaurant ain’t gon’ cut it, not for the type of lifestyle I was used to living. [Choreographer] Devyne [Stephens] took my music and shopped it around.”
Trouble was an overnight sensation, thanks in large part to the staying power of “Locked Up.” It sold 25,000 copies in its first week of release and has gone on to move more than 1.5 million units. “Locked Up” has even found a fanbase Akon never could have guess he would have appealed to. “The police told me that the song is the police department’s anthem,” Akon told Rolling Stone. “They play my song “Locked Up” in their cars when they pick kids up and are taking them to jail.”
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