Senegalese-American singer Akon has said musicians are not as wealthy as many assumed.

He claimed that contrary to the flamboyant aesthetics and luxurious lifestyles that many artists flaunt on social media and music videos, a lot of them are not financially stable.

Speaking in an interview with Hip Hop Eye, Akon explained that music is lucrative but it is the executives and those at the backends who make more money and not the artists.

“In the music industry, the artist is the last to get paid. He is the broke one but he is the most famous. If you want to be broke and famous, be the artist.

“But if you want to make real money go to other sectors of music business, like the producer, songwriter, manager, agent and attorney. There are so many areas in the entertainment field that you can really maximise,” he said.