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Music video by Akon performing Locked Up. (C) 2004 Universal Records & SRC Records Inc., a division of UMG Recordings

"Locked Up" is the debut single by the Senegalese singer Akon, which appears on his debut album, Trouble. The single was released in 2004 and immediately earned him success, reaching top 10 in both the U.S. and the UK, but he was to enjoy even more success with the follow-up song "Lonely". The song reached #4 on the Official UK Singles Chart and #8 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming his first Top 10 hit in both countries. The song recounts Akon's alleged problems with the law, only the protagonist is a drug dealer. In the video, Akon is arrested after being caught getting drugs out of a laundromat by, "undercovers dressed as fiends". After being in jail, he describes what a bad place prison is, contrary to the idea that prison makes you tough, an idea popularized by rappers.