Saying he's "too young to rest right now," Akon is set to embark on a world tour in 2007. Starting in Africa, he'll swing through Europe and then segue to the United States. There is no word yet on supporting acts, but Akon tells Billboard.com, "We'll probably get the hottest act in whatever region we're in."

When asked about strong rumors that he'll be collaborating with Michael Jackson, Akon just laughed, saying only, "Right now that's in the air. I can't talk about it." He offers up the same laugh and vague response when queried about working on Elton John's next album. But he did enthuse about his work on the title track of Gwen Stefani's new "The Sweet Escape," of which he said, "I took her back to her No Doubt days a little bit; more '80s."

Akon was also effusive about another upcoming collaboration: Whitney Houston. "I'm working on more uptempo records for her," he says. "She's been through a lot and has a dark history. So we've got to make the album brighter because she's come out of the cave now. She wants a celebration. She needs to come back to the old Whitney we remember."

As previously reported, Akon is presently No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with "I Wanna Love You," while "Smack That" is No. 3 on the chart.