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Freedom is the first Akon album that does not have a parental advisory warning. However, the release could use a different sticker: "Caution: Does not merit multiple listenings."

By now, the album's only worthwhile songs have become radio mainstays. The opening track, "Right Now (Na Na Na)," is about as smooth and catchy as they come. Somehow, Akon can make a song about shamelessly pleading for an ex to come back cool and highly danceable, which is not an easy feat. "Beautiful" is an upbeat, synthesizer-dependent production typical of what has made Akon so well known. Even with an awkward and unnecessary Colby O'Donis cameo, "Beautiful" deserves its ubiquitous presence on the airwaves.

These songs aside, it takes only a few tracks to fully realize that Freedom lacks any depth. For instance, although we all know that Akon is no poet, there are times when his lyrics fall from passable to inane. On "Be With You," the Senegal native tells a girlfriend, "Seems like every day that go by things are getting harder/Want to be the one to give you the whole enchilada." In "We Don't Care," Akon professes "We dancing together like we belong in my bedroom/If we share mattresses you would leave me no head room."

With "Sunny Day," Akon teams with Wyclef Jean for the obligatory reflective track on how relieved he is to have left the "ghetto life" behind. Unfortunately, it's hard to take the song seriously-there still exists no evidence supporting the three-year prison term Akon claims to have served. Also, he owns a diamond mine in Africa.

Ultimately, Freedom becomes a mixture of highly repetitive beats and careless rhymes. So while it might make Akon a star right now (na na na), it's unlikely to last.