Trouble (Akon album)

Although "Lonely" offered the album's best option in terms of commercial breakthrough, SRC Records A&R Jerome Foster told HitQuarters that "Locked Up" was chosen because he wanted to break Akon in the streets first and work towards a cross-over. "Locked Up" is a street record. I thought that was the place for us to start to get a fan-base, knowing that we had a record like "Lonely", which was more commercial, to follow it."^[6] The final appearance on the Billboard 200 was for the chart dated November 26, 2005. The album first appeared on the UK Album Chart on February 12, 2005. It slowly climbed up the chart before finally reaching the summit on April 30, 2005. It then spent two non-consecutive weeks at #1 on the UK Album Chart. Trouble is by far Akon's most successful album in the United Kingdom to date.

When originally released in 2004, the UK version of the album contained 13 tracks, whilst US versions of the album only contained 12, omitting the song "Ghetto". The digital version of the US album includes the bonus track "Kill The Dance". In 2005, the UK version of the album was re-issued with additional bonus tracks "Gunshot" and a remix of "Locked Up". In Japan, the bonus tracks were the same; however, the track "Ghetto" was once again omitted. For its release across Europe in late 2004, the album was completely altered, with remixes of "Belly Dancer", "Lonely" and "Don't Let Up" replacing the original versions, issued in the US and UK. The European version also removes the track "I Won't" and replaces it with a brand new track, "Easy Road". In 2005, the album was reissued, this time with a bonus disc containing two brand new tracks, two remixes and six collaborations between Akon and other artists. In Europe, the bonus disc contained 11 tracks, adding another remix of "Ghetto" as track one. In 2006, all US versions of the album were removed from iTunes, replacing them with the European version. However, the European edition loses the track "Easy Road" and replaces it with the original track "I Won't", and also includes the US digital bonus track "Kill The Dance", instead of the remix of "Locked Up".

More information Review scores, Source ...

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[7]
Christgau's Consumer Guide	[8]
RapReviews	6.5/10[9]
Spin	A−[10]
Sputnikmusic	3/5[11]

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New York Times critic Kelefa Sanneh called Trouble a "surprisingly strong debut album. Working in the tradition pioneered by R. Kelly, Akon moves deftly from hard-knock stories to dance-floor sleaze to inspirational ballads; the verses are full of nimble sing-rapping and the choruses are often simple and incantatory, with Akon multitracking his voice to sing his own backing vocals."^[12] Azeem Ahmad, writing for musicOMH, felt that Trouble stood out from typical "street-to-success" rap stories. He praised highlights such as like "Locked Up", "Trouble Nobody" and "When the Time's Right" for their emotion and strong beats and concluded that Akon's distinctive, "almost tribal" vocals made Trouble both intense and easy to listen to.^[13]

AllMusic editor Andy Kellman wrote that on Trouble, "unfortunately, no other song" comes close to being as gripping as "Locked Up." He noted that the club-oriented tracks fall "flat, most of the soul-searching moments feel forced, and the harder and more sexual tracks tend to be more silly than alluring. At its best, Trouble places you in Akon's turbulent world. At its worst, which is often, the album is excessively tedious."^[7] Hot Press editor Colm O'Hare felt thath Trouble sounded like many other hip-hop/R&B records. He admitted Akon "hadn't a bad voice," but argued that the themes and titles such as "Gangsta", "Ghetto", and "Gunshot" were "clichéd in the extreme."^[14]

The album performed well in the United Kingdom where it peaked at No. 1 on the UK Album Chart. Trouble sold 25,000 copies in the first week,^[15] and certified 2× Platinum by the RIAA in the United States and has sold 1.6 million copies.^[16][17]

Sample credits

• "Trouble Nobody" contains interpolations from "I Don't Do Much", written by Dwight Grant and Ricardo Thomas.
• "Bananza (Belly Dancer)" contains samples from "The Lunatics (Have Taken Over the Asylum)", written by Lynval Golding, Terence Hall, and Neville Staples; performed by Fun Boy Three.
• "Lonely" contains samples from "Mr. Lonely", written by Bobby Vinton and Gene Allan; performed by Bobby Vinton.