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“You can do whatever the f**k you want in this world. I know because I’m a living witness…”- August Alsina
For the past couple of weeks, I've been playing August Alsina’s music all the way from his debut album Testimony to SoundCloud since that’s where most of his mixtapes and singles reside. I remember why I listen to him in the first place and, quite frankly, it had nothing to do with his looks. I go for talent and hustle. Looks don’t mean a thing to me if you aren't hustling for survival; that is what August does. This is his story….
August Anthony Alsina, Jr. had one hell of a childhood. Born on September 2, 1992 in New Orleans, Louisiana, which happens to be one of America’s most violent cities, August’s household wasn't all “family-oriented,” in fact, both his father and step-father hustled the streets for survival by selling drugs. Soon enough, August’s biological father had passed due to the substance abuse.
August’s mother moved the family to Houston, Texas in hopes of a better living, taking advantage of Hurricane Katrina’s damage to flea from the drug abuse within the family.
Around the age of fourteen, August tapped into his inner vocal talent when the beautiful Lauryn Hill sang the song “His Eyes on a Sparrow” in the famous movie Sister Act 2. He uploaded his very first video onto YouTube by doing a cover of “Hypothetically” by Lyfe Jennings. NO ONE in the family was musically inclined but August.
However, life for the young talented NOLA boy kept going downhill when his best friend was gunned down in the streets of Houston. Soon enough August didn’t return to YouTube. Pain conflicted him to argue with his mother which led her to kick out her sixteen year old.
He headed back to his home city and enrolled into high school, but his unstable living and no paper to support him, August dropped out and turned to the streets for the same reason his father did; means for survival.
No one was there for the seventeen year old drug dealer. Most nights, he slept at corner stores. He looked up to his older brother Melvin La’Branch III for support to show him the ropes.
On August 31, 2010, August received numerous missed calls from his cousin while asleep. He managed to call back when he woke… Mel never saw the age 25. He was gunned down in NOLA’s streets which resulted in another unsolved murder.
"I never expected them [the police] to find his killer. People die everyday in the streets of New Orleans. Unfortunately, death has become a way of life.”
August felt like he was “living hell on Earth” but the hunger for survival grew within him. His brother’s death became his new inspiration to make it out of the hood and was discovered by now-manager Noontime. In 2011, August moved to Atlanta to persue his new dream.
Over the next few years, August Alsina managed to drop two mixtapes; one with a hit single “I Luv This Shit” featuring Atlanta’s own Trinidad Jame$. His buzz started blow up more when he became one of MTV’s Fab 5 in 2013. He managed to drop a independent video, “Downtown” Ft. Kidd Kidd which prompt 8 million views. Soon he released Downtown: Life Under the Gun, an EP which paints his ghetto life for you through his lyrics.
Radio Stations caught hold of “I Luv This Shit” which propelled to #1 on the Billboard Mainstream R&B/Hip Hop Charts. He surpassed well known artists such as Jay-Z, J. Cole, and Drake. The accomplishment hadn't been done in nearly four years. August teamed up with Chris Brown and Trey Songz for a remix of the song. It went platinum.
On April 15, 2014, August released his first album Testimony in honor of his brother’s twenty-eighth birthday that day. The album became the #1 debut album, #1 R&B album, and #2 overall album on the Billboard Top 200. He won Best New Artist and Viewer’s Choice at the 2014 BET Awards which included 4 nominations. Mind you, he’s only twenty-two years old.
August Alsina’s story inspires me to listen to his music. He is AUTHENTIC with everything he’s been through. A lot of people these days within the marketing industry say that your past doesn't make you. I object. In fact, the past helps you make future choices. August is off the streets and living the life that he never imagined to have.
“I got an opportunity; it’s way bigger than me.”
You HAVE to have that mindset to be bigger; to be better. As you can see, success doesn't come over night. It may take years to get to where you’re going. You've got to WANT it.
So…. what it is it going to take for YOU to get to where you WANT to be?….