Rapper Akon has confessed he practices polygamy and has three "wives." The Senegalese star made the revelation on American DJ Angie Martinez's New York radio show, but has now been banned from talking about his home life by his record label, who fear a backlash against him.

Akon, 25, told Martinez, "I'm a polygamist. I can afford to have as many wives as I can afford to have. All Africans believe in it. My dad has four wives."

The rapper insisted that under the teachings of the Koran, all wives must be treated equally - which Akon insists he does. But the Atlanta, Georgia-based star's confession has forced his label Universal to issue him with a gagging order.

He tells AllHipHop.com, "Me and Angie were having a conversation. In the beginning it was cool because I said, 'Okay I got enough fans out there, I got a lot of supporters I can get open with them.' But then after me and Angie had that conversation, situations started getting heated. It started affecting other people that had nothing to do with us. Because of that, (the label) said they don't want me to promote that aspect, and I can't talk about that too much because it's destroying other people's families and other things. I said, 'OK, no problem.'

"I gave them the word to where I won't promote it too much, to where it won't be a topic to where it starts getting tainted into those situations. Unfortunately, this is the world we live in, people do judge you by your beliefs and how you think. It's a free country, but it's really not free."

(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)