Akon has provided an explanation for why he declined the chance to sign Moneybagg Yo, a popular rap artist.
The music and business tycoon recently spoke with VladTV about his ties with former signees, including Rock City, social media star Jeffree Star, and Memphis rapper OG Boo Dirty, who Akon stated introduced him to Moneybagg Yo before he signed with Yo Gotti’s Collective Music Group.
Part of Akon’s statement said, “And mind you OG Boo Dirty was the one that introduced me to Moneybagg [Moneybagg Yo] you know he’s signed to Yo Gotti but we had him first okay but we never signed him.” It’s amazing, OG approached me and said, “Yo Kon he’s the next n-gga,” but at the time I wasn’t paying attention.
Akon claims that everything changed when the two rappers came to his house to play him unreleased music years ago. The “Locked Up” singer claims that this made him believe that the “Wockesha” rapper was the next big thing to come along.
“OG came to my house I mean, he brought Moneybagg with him, and Moneybagg had a record bro. To this day, if he releases it, I always predicted that it would be his biggest single; it’s called “I Need A Plug.” Okay, I heard that record, and I went fuckin’ crazy, Akon stated. The moment I thought, “Oh, this record is out of here, this kid is gone,” I knew what it was.
Akon, who is currently overseeing the construction of a multi-billion dollar city in the African nation of Senegal, claims he had to travel abroad for work before he could formally arrange anything with Moneybagg Yo. Akon claims that despite OG Boo Dirty’s advice, he was still hesitant to accept a record deal offer since, by the time he returned, Moneybagg had already generated some buzz of his own with the release of several mixtapes.
Akon remarked, in part, “Then I flew off overseas and came back for like six months later.” He continued, “But then again I didn’t want to be interacting with rappers so. By the time I came back, he was already going on mixtape circuits. Yo bro, I’m telling this n-gga going, he going, OG continued repeating. Kon, you need to get him. I responded, “I know dude, but I’m not sure if I want to deal with no rappers man,” Okay, dude, I’m saying you’re going to regret it, said OG. I don’t regret calling it OG, but yeah, OG. Boo filthy found everything.
Moneybagg Yo became a superstar in 2021 after his album A Gangsta’s Pain, which was released in April and sold about 110,000 first-week album-equivalent album units overall, had its No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200 Album Chart.
