Akon
Bolatito Mercy
Akon has argued for over a decade that monogamy goes against male biology, and the quote “men are not built to be committed to one woman” captures the core of his stance. In a 2013 TMZ interview at LAX, he put it bluntly: “Women aren’t built to mate with more than one party … men are.” He called men “natural breeders by nature” and said, “We can’t even escape it if we wanted to.” His view is that women need to “take more time to understand how men are built.
The Senegalese-American singer links the argument to culture and religion. He told Angie Martinez’s radio show in 2006, “I’m a polygamist… All Africans believe in it. My dad has four wives.” He says he can afford “as many wives as I can afford to have,” and has claimed that if America adopted polygamy “there would be less domestic disputes.” In his words, “The average guy in the world has a main girl and they got a side chick. And then they got a jumpoff.
Akon’s biological claim is explicit: “Men were put on this earth to breed and the reason why God put multiple women on this earth is for that.” He illustrates it with the “1,000 guys on one corner” example — if one woman walks by, “1,000 heads go, ‘Damn.’ They don’t even know why they doing it. They’re natural breeders. It’s in their genes.” He contrasts that with women, who he says “aren’t built to breed like that or mate with more than one partner.
On _Hollywood Today Live_ he expanded the point, saying the same relationship problems show up “with every woman in the world” because “it’s not a science, it’s not a coincidence, it’s who we are.” He argued men remain dominant “because we know more about women than women know about men,” and that society creates rules “without taking nature into account.” He even cited a ratio — “we’re out numbered 15 to 1” — to claim women are smarter but men set the rules.
He doesn’t reject marriage outright, but reframes its purpose. “People are having relationships, boyfriend and girlfriend, and treating it like it’s actually marriage. You’re just dating,” he told TMZ. “The whole purpose of dating is so you can date this one, and date this one, and date this one until you find out, ‘Okay, this is the person I want to spend the rest of my life with.’” Even then, he’s skeptical: “I don’t know no one woman that can satisfy every man’s one need.
The comments have drawn heavy criticism and are often cited alongside his broader remarks on gender roles. In a 2022 interview on _The Joe Budden Podcast_, he said “men and women could never be equal,” that women need to “understand their roles,” and that “the woman plays the role of the woman.” He contrasted Africa, where roles “are very defined,” with America, where saying “role” offends women. He also claimed men are the gender that creates life — not women — which sparked backlash.
Public reaction splits sharply. Some defend it as cultural honesty — polygamy exists in many African societies and some Muslim traditions allow multiple marriages under conditions. Akon himself has referenced Islam and his father’s four wives. Others call it “misogynistic” or a justification for infidelity dressed up as biology. Black America Web noted that his 23-year-old fiancée in 2007 backed out of being his fifth “wife,” saying she couldn’t stay in that kind of relationship even though he was honest about it.
The same debate resurfaced in Nigeria in 2024 when 2Baba said “a man is not built to sexually be with just one woman,” citing biology and polygamy while insisting a man’s heart can belong to one partner. Supporters called it biological truth; critics called it pseudoscience used to excuse cheating. Akon’s version is more sweeping — not just sex, but commitment itself — and he’s stood by it since at least 2006. He maintains that understanding male “nature” would reduce relationship conflict, while critics argue self-control, consent, and equality matter more than what he calls “genes.
