Excerpt: The titles of his albums tell a story: First, Akon was in Trouble, then he was Konvicted. Now, with his current album, the hip-hop star is enjoying Freedom.

The Senegal-born singer sits down with PEOPLE in an exclusive interview to talk about his recent collaboration with Michael Jackson, working with New Kids on the Block and his thoughts about President-elect Barack Obama.

You did some work with Michael Jackson earlier in the year with 25th Anniversary of Thriller. How did you riff off each other musically?