adminDOHA. – Popular R&B and hip-hop artist Akon will perform live at Lusail Boulevard tomorrow, as part of Live Formula 1 Car demonstration, to draw music fans and motorsport enthusiasts from around Qatar.
The show comes just weeks after his music video for “Smack That,” the hit 2006 single with Eminem, danced its way into the Billion Views Club on YouTube.
The visual features a cameo from Academy Award nominee Eric Roberts and revolves around Akon getting a 24-hour hall pass from prison in order to help the police run an undercover sting operation in a gentleman’s club frequented by Eminem.
Of course, the whole plot is set to Akon’s irresistible earworm of a track, which finds the Senegalese-American star crooning, “I feel you creepin’, I can see it from my shadow/ Wanna jump up in my Lamborghini Gallardo/ Maybe go to my place and just kick it like TaeBo/ And possibly bend you over, look back and watch me/ Smack that, all on the floor/ Smack that, give me some more/ Smack that, till you get sore/ Smack that, oh!”
As the lead single off Akon’s sophomore album Konvicted, “Smack That” reached as high as No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, a career high at the time for the singer that was soon surpassed by his dual No. 1 hits “I Wanna Love You” featuring Snoop Dogg and “Don’t Matter.”
Its video is the star’s second to achieve the major viewership feat on YouTube after his 2013 collab with David Guetta and Ne-Yo, “Play Hard.”
More recently, Akon mounted a comeback with his TikTok-fuelled 2022 EP TT Freak.
He also spoke out in December in defence of Nick Cannon having 12 kids with six different women.
For the show in Doha, four viewing screens have been added for attendees to enjoy the event as well as the three-time Grammy-nominated artist’s performance.
Organised by Qatar Airways, the event aims to highlight Qatar’s growing reputation as a destination for high-profile events.
The event promises a line-up featuring Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah in his rally car, David Coulthard in a Red Bull Formula 1 car, Dani Pedrosa in a MotoGP bike, and Abdo Feghali in a Red Bull drift car.
Visitors will also get the opportunity to see a static display of an FIA World Endurance Championship hypercar.
The event is free and open to the public. – Billboard/msn.
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter