freedom

對於這次“自由之旅”，Akon很早就開始了宣傳工作，他在發行專輯前去了12個城市做演出，並且還在網上舉辦了一個比賽，讓歌迷各抒己見闡釋“Freedom”對於他們的意義。

Akon對這張專輯的重視程度顯而易見。

依然保持了自己特別的嗓音和一如寄望的悦耳旋律，但是在音樂製作上卻與他之前2張R&B,Hip Hop和Reggae混合的專輯大相徑庭，更多的歐洲派對音樂元素被引入了專輯，從整個2008年的多張主流Hiphop專輯來看，這一變化也將成為整個 Hiphop音樂圈發展的大趨勢，Rave-hop這個新的曲風在慢慢的付出水面。先行單曲《Right Now （Na Na Na）》中的合成器音效清晰的驗證了Akon向歐洲電子舞曲靠攏的思路，這首實驗性的單曲也在發出後的第一週便登上了Billboard流行歌曲100強榜單的第18名。除了《Right Now （Na Na Na）》，專輯還有多首類似的舞曲，比如《Keep You Much Longer》，T-Pain跨刀的《Holla Holla》，《Troublemaker》以及《Beautiful》，Akon在這些為舞池人羣準備的歌曲中給自己之前的風格徹徹底底的來了個大變臉。

與Lil Wayne，Young Jeezy合作的第二主打《I'm So Paid》便是典型的炫耀自己荷包鼓鼓的街頭風單曲，Akon在這裏重新“裝扮”成了一個Hustler，宣佈自己就是音樂領域的大老闆，連老太爺也動不了自己：“上帝只需要一個電話就可以讓一個藝人上位或者從娛樂圈消失，（猜猜怎麼着？）我不用擔心，我有的是錢，我拿這些錢控制了他！”和之前兩張充斥着犯罪故事、街頭傳奇歌曲的專輯相比，《Freedom》讓大家見證的更像是一個罪人尋找寧靜生活的“自由之旅”，有好多温馨真摯的情感流露，《Sunny Day》講述的是撥雲見日時的完美感受，而在《Be With You》一曲中，Akon延續了2007年暢銷單曲《Don’t Matter》中的話題，在製作人Hakim協助打造的電子雷鬼強節拍下，他對自己的愛人獻上了一段真情告白併發誓沒有事能夠把他們分開。

其他值得一聽的歌曲還有講述“跌倒了就要勇敢站起來”的《Over the Edge》以及拿女人身上的胎記做文章的情歌《Birthmark》。

Akon依靠《Freedom》從自己之前的成功之中繼續摘取果實，無論是自己家庭在移民到美國的過程中遇到的麻煩還是他自己的成長煩惱，他希望所有這些不幸的故事能夠在這張專輯裏終結。在繼續消沉下去和忘記一切、盡情享受人生之間，Akon選擇了後者，在被關押（“Locked Up”）並且認罪（“Convicted”）之後，Akon決定通過這張專輯徹底與自己的灰色過去説再見。

通過《Freedom》，Akon開始向自己事業的第二個巔峯走去，而他所選擇的方向也保證了這次“旅行”不會又是一個拋物線”。

Akon - Freedom

Everything I have,everything I own

All my mistakes,friend,you already know

I wanna be free,I wanna be free

From Senegal West Africa,

To St. Louis,Missouri

Thanks to Catherine Dunham

For giving my paps his glory

He came down with his drum

And a dream to change the world

In a free uplifting world

And that's all we ever want

Mom came a little after

Gave birth to my brother

Then all of the pressure

Made em' fight one and another

See,the pain would never left

Did the best with what they had

He knew the world was out for grabs

And he searched to find his

Freedom,Freedom,Freedom,Freedom

Everything I have,everything I own

All my mistakes ,friend,you already know

I wanna be free,I wanna be free

So I search to find my

Freedom,Freedom,Freedom,Freedom

Everything I have,everything I own

All my mistakes girl,you already know

I wanna be free,I wanna be free,yeah

As a kid I never knew

I hustle so just to make it through

So I found myself skipping school

Those girls don't think i'm cool

And because of that I didn't care

Whether or not I went to jail

I just wanna be treated fair

Cause' that's all I ever knew

Tellin' me I need to slow down

Is there everybody in the whole town

Cause' they know how I get down

Far enough from another town

Can you believe we're still around?

Have so many of you in the ground

And we ain't gonna stop that

Until we get that

Freedom,Freedom,Freedom,Freedom

Everything I have,everything I own

All my mistakes,friend,you already know

I wanna be free,I wanna be free

Won't stop til' I find my

Freedom,Freedom,Freedom,Freedom

Everything I have,everything I own

All my mistakes girl you already know

I wanna be free,I wanna be free,yeah

If you wanna be free,and the land is drug-free

put your hands up,put your hands up

If you wanna be free,from all your misery

put your hands up,put your hands up

If you wanna be free,with plenty money

put your hands up,put your hands up

If you wanna be free,just grace your heel

put your hands up,put your hands up

Freedom,Freedom(Freedom),Freedom,Freedom

Everything I have,everything I own

All my mistakes girl you already know

I wanna be free(wanna be free),

I wanna be free(wanna be free) ^[1]