Akon said his brother Bu once lip-synced entire shows pretending to be him while another brother booked gigs under his name without asking.
Akon admitted his brothers once pulled off a bold stunt in the name of showbiz by impersonating him at concerts across the globe—sometimes without telling him.
The Grammy-nominated artist revealed that his younger brother Abou “Bu” Thiam occasionally stepped in as his onstage double when scheduling conflicts left Akon stretched thin.
“Bu used to fill in for me in shows,” Akon admitted during a recent “Bootleg Kev” podcast appearance. “They would not know the difference.”
Since Bu didn’t sing, he’d lip-sync while a DJ spun Akon’s tracks, and the crowd never caught on.
But the family hustle didn’t stop there. Another brother, Omar Thiam, took the impersonation game to a new level—booking gigs under Akon’s name without permission and pocketing the cash.
“Omar was running it up,” Akon said. “He was a straight gangsta about it.”
Akon Says Fans Couldn’t Tell He & His Brothers Apart
The singer explained that the resemblance between him and his brothers was so strong that people couldn’t tell them apart unless they saw him in person.
“When you see me and my brother separately, if you didn’t see me in person, you would definitely say ‘OK, 1000%,’” he said.
Despite the deception, Akon said there was no bad blood. “We laugh about it today,” he added.
Eventually, the switcheroo stopped working—mainly because Bu became too recognizable in the music industry.
“Bu just too popular,” Akon said. “He got big. Huge executive today.”
Bu has carved out a powerhouse career in the music industry, becoming the youngest VP of A&R at Def Jam at just 28, where he helped craft hits for Rihanna. He went on to serve as EVP at Columbia Records, manage Kanye West from 2019 to 2022, and launch his own label, BuVision, which partnered with Atlantic Music Group by 2025.
Before building his executive empire, Bu played a key role in shaping Akon’s early success, discovering T-Pain and Jeremih and launching Lady Gaga’s career. He also executive produced Watch the Throne and managed Chris Brown from 2015 to 2017 while running Akon’s label, Konvict Muzik.
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