It's a Beautiful Day, as Akon has just released his new studio album. It marks his first full-length project since 2008, though he's continued to drop music over the years.
"Before I was just doing it to feed the passion," he tells ABC Audio. "I had so much other stuff going on." But he says music was something he "couldn't let go of."
Now, with more time on his hands, Akon felt ready to fully return to music.
He says, "Things are freed up and on cruise control to the point where now I can go back to the passion and have fun back doing music again."
The result is Beautiful Day, a genre- and culture-blending project that dives deeper into international sounds than he's ever done before.
"I was sneakin' it in there. The labels, I had to fight them to put it on," he says of past music. "Now, I'm like my own label, own distribution, my own mind, own decisions, and I can freely do what I wanna do and how I wanna to do it."
Like its lead single, the album reflects gratitude and a new outlook on life.
"I think there's so much that's going on in your life that we discount," Akon says. "We're so always focused on all the negative things because ... they hit you a little harder. ... So you find yourself spending more time and attention dealing with those things than you do about all the beautiful things around you that you should be grateful for."
With age and experience, Akon's mindset has shifted. He describes the album as a reflection of his growth, and understanding "how everything that happens in your life is supposed to happen."
"The moment you embrace it all, all your worries, stress ... goes away and every day becomes a beautiful day," Akon says.
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