Aww shit, y’all. The Smoking Gun, has pulled a James Frey on R&B crooner Akon, whose album Konvicted has gone triple-platinum, showing that he’s never been to prison. Akon’s Con Job:

While the performer’s rap sheet does include a half-dozen arrests, Akon has only been convicted of one felony, for gun possession. That 1998 New Jersey case ended with a guilty plea, for which the singer was sentenced to three years probation. Another 1998 bust, this one in suburban Atlanta, has been seized upon by Akon and transformed into the big case that purportedly sent him to prison (thanks to his snitching cohorts) for three fight-filled years. In reality, Akon was arrested for possession of a single stolen BMW and held in the DeKalb County jail for several months before prosecutors dropped all charges against him.

So there was no conviction. There was no prison term between 1999 and 2002. And he was never “facing 75 years,” as the singer claimed in one videotaped interview.

As Alicia Keys knows, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anybody that “Akon’s invented tales appear to be part of a cynical marketing plan, but one that has met with remarkable success.”

To quote my man Del the Funky Homosapien: “We hate r&b cuz that shit is sorry / That shit’s for saps / Just admit your raps / don’t cut the mustard…”

First Tupac, and now Akon. The Smoking Gun has become a major player in the Hip Hop Truth Patrol.