Whitney was Apprehensive About Working with Akon

Cousin Whit says that she wasn’t so sure about working with Akon when her mentor Clive Davis first suggested it. She said, “When Clive told me I would be working with Akon, I thought, ‘Hmm, interesting, um, all right’. I wanted the record like ‘My Love Is Your Love’ with an island feel. I wanted an island record because ‘My Love Is Your Love’ is so huge and it has its own fashion with Wyclef. I wanted that feeling, but I didn’t know who could do that. And Clive came and said, ‘Akon is the guy that we’re going to work with.’ And I was like, ‘OK, Akon. OK, I can deal with that.’ “
She adds, “I was asking him, ‘Did your mother name you Akon?’ And he said, ‘No, it means a convict.’ And I thought, ‘Oh, God. OK, all right, I can handle that.’ He’s a gentleman. He did his work very well. We did it very quickly, very diligently, and I’m very proud of that record. It’s a great record.” Source
Business is business so I guess she figured she might as well get some work done. But trust and believe she didn’t wear her good jewelry to the studio, nor did she let her purse out of her sight for one second.

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