Akon, Vibe and the new urban standard

Akon, Vibe and the new urban standard

Akon Vibe cover April 2007With two singles in the #2 and #3 spots (Akon “Don’t Matter” and Gwen Stefani Featuring Akon “The Sweet Escape”), a new album, Konvicted, holding the #3 spot on the Billboard charts, and a starring role in a new Verizon commercial, Akon is hot right now. Now Senegal’s son graces the cover of the new Vibe Magazine which just hit my neighborhood newsstand. I’m not sure if this is the first time an African has made the cover of Vibe, but Akon’s cover is particularly significant to me because as an artist he continues to have appeal beyond genres and walk the fine line that Vibe has been so successful walking. Akon’s continued rise further convinces me of the growth of a new urban culture without the restrictions of race and origin. Not to say that the genre is color blind but where urban culture was primarily associated only with Black American culture before, the new urban culture seems to fall more in a gray area where race and origin aren’t the only determinant. A few weeks ago John Pasmore wrote on his Fast Company blog about the origins of the urban. The way things are going these days soon there might be a new definition of urban with new originators as reference points. Whether this new genre is a good or bad thing for black/African culture depends on your perspective, but one thing’s for sure, Akon and Vibe are attempting to shape that new definition right now.