Akon has revealed that during the height of his early career, he used his brothers as stand-ins for performances when he was overwhelmed with bookings.
Speaking on The Morning Hustle radio show, the multi-platinum artist shared that his brother Abou Thiam, popularly known as Bu, would often take his place at events and concerts.
At the time, before the explosion of social media and smartphones, it was easier to pull off the switch unnoticed. Bu would wear a hat to enhance the resemblance and keep the ruse going.
Akon also admitted that another brother, Omar, went a step further by impersonating him without consent and even securing gigs in his name.
He explained that the decision to use body doubles stemmed from the massive demand he faced during his career’s peak, making it impossible to meet every performance request himself.
