"The Sweet Escape" is a song by American singer and songwriter Gwen Stefani from her second studio album of the same name (2006). It was written by Stefani, Akon, and Giorgio Tuinfort. Akon, who is also a featured artist, developed the song's beat before collaborating with Stefani. He designed it based on her previous work with No Doubt, and Stefani later commented that it put her "on the yellow brick road to the No Doubt record I might do". "The Sweet Escape" is an apology for a fight between two lovers and describes a dream of a pleasant life for them. As the album's title track, its title was chosen to help market Stefani's music and fashion lines.

The song received generally positive reviews from contemporary music critics, though there was a negative response to Akon's presence as a featured artist. "The Sweet Escape" was released as the album's second single on December 19, 2006 and was commercially successful in mainstream and adult contemporary markets. It reached the top 10 of most singles charts and topped the New Zealand Singles Chart. The song was nominated for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the 50th Grammy Awards. In the song's accompanying music video, Stefani attempts to escape from a golden prison.

Interscope Records' CEO Jimmy Iovine, who helped with A&R for The Sweet Escape, arranged the collaboration between Stefani and Akon. Interscope sent Stefani a copy of Akon's 2004 debut album Trouble and repeatedly encouraged her to work with him. Akon readily accepted, and Stefani accepted after several people had pushed her to work with him.

When Akon was asked to work with Stefani, he reviewed her work, ranging from her music with No Doubt to her solo career. He noted that the sound Stefani had cultivated with No Doubt was missing from her solo work. Stefani, preoccupied with her baby Kingston Rossdale, cancelled their session and commented that she "didn't want to go through the pain of trying to work with someone [she] didn't know". Iovine called Stefani, telling her, "You can cancel everything else in your life, but don't cancel this session." She decided to work with Akon and expected that they would work on writing a write a generic hip hop song, one that would not fit her well.

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