6ix9ine's sequel to Akon's "Locked Up" wasn't just an Instagram moment. A full version of the song is actually dropping soon.
During a recent conversation with Akon, the Konvict Muzik founder told XXL that the record will appear on Tekashi's forthcoming effort. "That's not going on my album, but it's going on his [6ix9ine's] album," Akon says. "It was more for him to tell his story, and I thought it was super important, because most people never really been locked up, so it was funny to read some of them comments. If they ever been in the facility or ever been locked up somehow, they would know that the jails are filled and more populated with snitches than it is with regular people and than people who committed normal crime."
A rep from 6ix9ine's team also confirmed to XXL that the track will indeed appear on his next album.
Back in June, the Brooklyn rapper used an Instagram video to tease a follow-up to Akon's 2004 breakout hit record. "Thinking ’bout the things that I did/Got me thinking, like, why the fuck I did that?/Got me wishing that I could take it all back," 6ix9ine sings in a video with Akon beside him. "Fighting with these demons/Barely even eating/Barely even sleeping/This shit got me tweakin'/Fighting with my lawyers for a better offer/Just want to see my daughter." Tekashi captioned the IG post, "LOCKED UP PART 2 IM ON ALBUM MODE THIS ALBUM GOING CRAZYYYYYYY @akon ❤️."
In the past, Akon has defended 6ix9ine after the rapper was ostracized and labeled a snitch for testifying against Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods members in court last fall. Akon feels like the "Punani" artist hasn't gotten a real chance to tell his story, and that's part of the reason he teamed up with the rapper for a "Locked Up" sequel.
"I felt like he was also being unfairly judged before getting all the information," Akon explains. "In the song, I wanted the song to be more about his personal feelings about actually being locked up while you were in the cell, while you were in jail behind that cell. It wasn't more so what you did to get there, but what was you feeling when you were in there? Let the world feel that part of it."
Akon also says that he's assumed a mentor role with 6ix9ine and wants to protect him however he can. "We talk all the time," he tells. "We reach out. It was beyond the record and it was also helping him setup his system, so he can get back into the game the right way. Help clean up his image a little bit more, which we're probably gonna start working on next few months. He's got a lot of bad relationships out there that I wanna fix ’cause I really feel like he has a lot of potential to become one of the biggest superstars in the world. But, he gotta clean up his shit to get there. And, you can't mix the business with your real life. You gotta separate the two."
As for his own music, Akon recently dropped a mixtape titled Ain't No Peace, which he says is reminiscent of his debut album, Trouble. "The whole mixtape, top to bottom, is back to the Trouble album," Akon says. "If I follow up my Trouble album, this one would have been it. But it's more based on the social, economic discussion that's going on around us right now."
He adds that the album is a balance of what's going on today while intertwining messages for the youth on the dos and don'ts in life. "The album it touches on the topics of that's going on today, and then it takes me back to the street days of when I was there," he continues. "And my records are street records that kinda have a message to kinda give a voice to the kids that's tryna go down the same path. The good, the bad and the ugly in it. But not telling them what they should and shouldn't do, not preaching to 'em, but just letting them know my experiences was and how it came out and how it ended up."
Akon's new mixtape dropped on July 31 and is available on digital streaming platforms.
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