Page "Locked Up (song)" Paragraph 1

Although it was widely regarded that " Lonely " offered the album's best option in terms of commercial breakthrough, SRC Records A & R and producer Knobody chose " Locked Up " as the first single because he wanted to break Akon in the streets first, and then work towards a cross-over.

In an interview for HitQuarters, he claimed: " Locked Up " is a street record.

I thought that was the place for us to start to get a fan-base, knowing that weight.

We thought really carefully about the record, what touches people and will get people's attention-so we added references of his kin and kith sending him magazines, money-orders, to visit him, ask where his lawyer is, accept his phone calls and ask where're my niggaz on lockdown ?.

The song was designed a breakout hit for Akon, something that could shape the future of his personal life and widely successful musical career.

I worked on what I call " drops " – points in the record where it feels different, to break the monotony and make it a little more interesting.

" Knobody produced an alternate of the song, featuring Taz & Styles P, which appears as both a b-side on the single and as a bonus track on the UK version of the album.

In 2004, T-Pain sampled the song in a parody recording " I'm Fucked Up ".

In 2005, the song was sampled in the track " Won't Let Me Out " by C-Murder.

A music video was produced to promote the single.

The video was directed by FlyyKai, and was edited to both the album version and the remix featuring Taz & Styles P.