Akon reveals about his princely past

Akon used to pretend he was an African prince in a bid to attract girls.

London: Singer-rapper Akon used to pretend he was an African prince while he was at school in a bid to attract girls.

The singer split his time between Senegal and America while growing up and admits he would play on his African roots as a teenager, by claiming to be royalty so as to impress girls. "When I was 17, I thought I was the flyest thing on the planet. Of course, I still had my African roots so I would wear dashikis that kinda matched my jeans, I think I was a young hustler at that time, I told everybody, I`m a prince!" a website quoted Akon as saying. "People just didn`t know any better so they believed that we were princes from Africa," said Akon`s brother Omar. Akon got the idea from the classic Eddie Murphy movie "Coming to America", a comedy about a misplaced African prince trying to make his way in America. IANS