American singer and musician August Anthony Alsina, Jr. specializes in rhythm and blues music. He works for the American record company Def Jam Recordings. Coming from a problematic household, he experienced many difficulties as a child, yet they were unable to stop him from being passionate about music. He released renditions of songs by Lyfe Jennings and Musiq Soulchild while still in his teen years and posted them on YouTube. Thousands of views for the songs quickly accumulated. He started peddling drugs as his family’s position got worse. But the tragedy involving his brother’s murder served as a wake-up call for him. It inspired him to focus on music once more, and he released a mix tape called “The Product” (2012). American R&B artist Lloyd was featured on one of the album’s songs, “Sucka.” I Luv This Shit, the lead track off ‘The Product 2’ (2013), his second mixtape, peaked at number 13 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart and was ranked number 48 on the Hot 100. His 2014 debut studio album, “Testimony,” which peaked at #2 on the albums charts, helped him gain even more notoriety. Alsina has also released the albums “This Thing Called Life” from 2015 and the 2013 EP “Downtown: Life Under The Gun.”
Early Childhood & Life
The daughter of August Alsina Sr. and Sheila Alsina, Augusta Alsina was born on September 3, 1992, in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Since he was a young child, he had experienced family strife, and both his father and, subsequently, his stepfather, battled crack cocaine addiction. His mother moved him to Houston, Texas, in search of a better life after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in 2005. He lost his father to drug usage shortly after that.
Alsina, tangled up in family issues, found comfort in anything musical even though his family was neither into nor attracted to music. Additionally, he was inspired to sing after seeing Lauren Hill sing “His Eyes on a Sparrow” in the American musical comedy “Sister Act 2.”
His debut YouTube video, “Hypothetically,” a version of a Lyfe Jennings song from the album “Lyfe 268-192,” was posted in 2007. After that, he posted numerous video covers of other people’s songs, including those by Musiq Soulchild, and over time, he amassed millions of views.
What began as a hobby for Alsina quickly evolved into a potential career path. He made the decision to pursue singing as a career, but his mother disagreed because she had other ideas for him. She “kicked him out” as a result of this.
At the age of 16, he moved back to New Orleans and enrolled in high school. But as hardship began to encroach on his life, he became dissatisfied and turned to drug peddling on the streets.
His older brother Melvin La’Branch III, who was also working the streets for a wage, looked after him for a brief period of time. But after Melvin was shot and died on August 31, 2010, the murder went unsolved, and Alsina decided to restart her life through music.
Career of August Alsina
He was discovered by independent American management and production business “NNTME MuCo.,” commonly known as “Noontime,” which is situated in Atlanta. As a result, he moved to Atlanta in 2011 and intensified his commitment to his musical profession.
Although Alsina released a mixtape dubbed “Untitled” in October 2011 that featured six covers performed acoustically, his first mixtape, titled “The Product,” was not published until April 2012. There were twelve tracks on it. ‘August Alsina University’ and ‘Throwback’ were Alsina’s other two mixtapes that were released in 2012.
Alsina’s R&B song, “I Luv This Shit,” was released by “Def Jam Recordings” on February 19, 2013, as the lead single off his debut EP, “Downtown: Life Under the Gun” (2013). The song, which is about partying while using drugs and alcohol, was released as a digital download and featured American rapper Trinidad James.
I Luv This Shit (G-Mix), a remix of the song that features American rapper Birdman, was released in May 2013. That month, Alsina released a new mixtape called “The Product 2.”
His debut EP, “Downtown: Life Under the Gun,” was published by “Def Jam Recordings” and “Radio Killa Records” on August 20, 2013. Rich Homie Quan, Trinidad James, Currensy, and Kidd Kidd were among the musicians featured on the eight-track album, which also included the song “I Luv This Shit.”
A new remix of “I Luv This Shit” with American singer-songwriter-actor Trey Songz and American singer-songwriter-dancer Chris Brown was made available for digital download in the United States on October 4, 2013.
His song “Ghetto” from “Downtown: Life Under the Gun” debuted on an urban contemporary radio playlist on December 9, 2013, and it remained the song with the most additions through the end of the week on December 12.
He dedicated his first studio album, “Testimony,” which was released on April 15, 2014, to Melvin. The album, which featured the songs “I Luv This Shit,” “Ghetto,” and others, was well-received by critics and shot up to number two on the Billboard 200. Up till November 2015, 287,000 copies were sold in the US.
He was included in the 2014 freshmen class and appeared on the cover of XXL magazine in August 2014.
This Thing Called Life, his second studio album, was released on December 11th, 2015. In its first week, it sold 41,000 copies in the US and debuted on Billboard at position #14.
Major Works
‘I Luv This Shit’ earned him a gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America on March 6, 2014, for shipping 500,000 copies, which was updated to platinum on October 2. In addition to receiving positive reviews from critics and gaining him immense fame and popularity, this was just one of his major achievements (1,000,000).
Personal Legacy & Life
Amayila, Kayden, and Chaylen are his three nieces and the offspring of his late older brother Melvin La’Branch III, who formerly looked after him. By doing this, he honors Melvin’s invaluable brotherly love and the contributions he made to his life.
He fainted in September 2014 while playing at the Irving Plaza in New York City as part of his first national tour, “Testimony Live,” and was taken to the hospital. He was detained in the intensive care unit, where he fell into a coma for three days. Later, he made a full recovery and left the hospital.
August Alsina Net Worth
An American recording artist named August Alsina has a $4 million dollar fortune. In 2007, he started posting his own singing videos on YouTube, and since then, he’s put out a lot of well-liked music. In 2012, he issued his first official mixtape; the following year, he issued a single and a second mixtape. After that, Alsina joined Def Jam Records and issued his debut EP in August 2013. His debut studio album, “Testimony,” which peaked at number one on the US R&B and US R&B/Hip-Hop charts and at number two on the “Billboard” 200 charts, was made possible by the EP, which gave rise to three successful singles. In 2015, August released “This Thing Called Life,” his second studio album, which peaked at #2 on the US R&B and US R&B/Hip-Hop charts and at #14 on the “Billboard” 200. His song “I Luv This Shit” with Trinidad James reached #4 on the US R&B chart and was awarded a Platinum certification. “No Love” (featuring Nicki Minaj), “Ghetto” (with Richie Home Quan), and “Numb” are some of Alsini’s other well-liked hits (featuring B.o.B and Yo Gotti).