Akon

Here’s the thing about Akon: if you listened to his entire discography — every last cameo, writing credit, and bulletproof beat — it’d keep your stereo busy for days. A little editing never hurt anyone though. Which brings us to our crash course in all things Akon, a Top 40-certified set of instant classics that skims some of his most unstoppable tracks right off the top. That goes for the cage-rattling chords of “Smack That,” the heaven-sent harmonies of “Beautiful,” and the teeth-baring breaks of “Soul Survivor.”

As for our Next Steps, they expand Akon’s Rolodex even further, right on down to the ravenous reggaeton of Pitbull and the pristine pop of Gwen Stefani.

When Dr. Dre delivered his first proper single in a decade (the piano-plowin’ banger that is “Kush”), he didn’t invite just his old Doggs Nate and Snoop over to play; the good doctor also stepped outside his comfort zone and tapped Akon’s street-seasoned cleanup-hitter skills, a proven R&B presence that happens to cut right through the rave-ready synths of “Get Buck In Here,” the sun-stroked rocksteady rhythms of “Mama Africa,” and a percussion-pelting 12-inch version of “Bananza (Belly Dancer).”

And then there’s our Deep Cuts, a dizzying tour of Akon’s back catalog, which keeps getting better the further you dig.

When you have a voice as velvety and versatile as Akon’s, it’s easy to understand why everyone from 50 Cent (the moonlit melodies of “I’ll Still Kill”) to Snoop Dogg (the shimmering keys of “Boss’ Life”) has your name on speed dial. In fact, comb over Akon’s catalog closely enough and you’ll find more than 300 guest appearances, the best of which drift in and out of our Deep Cuts, including a delightfully strange duet with the King of Pop (“Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ 2008”) and a trunk-rattlin’ reminder that Akon has a punch line-stealing sense of humor (“I Just Had Sex”).

Born in St. Louis but raised in Senegal, Akon was torn between two continents until he turned 15 and set up shop in New Jersey. Needless to say, everything was full speed ahead from that point on, as he blended his West African roots — the singer’s father, Mor Thiam, is a Senegalese percussionist — with a prickly persona caught somewhere between a hardcore hip-hop head and a bedroom-scoring R&B star. Which says nothing of his solid-gold songwriting skills — a point hammered home by the six Akon-related singles that landed on Billboard’s Hot 100 in 2007, running the range from the low-end lashings of “I Wanna Love You” to the candy-striped hooks of “The Sweet Escape.” Oh, and we can’t forget the absolutely banging posse-cut stylings of “We Takin’ Over.” Ubiquitous? Maybe. Brilliant? Absolutely.