R&B singer August
Alsina spent the first several years of his life in New Orleans, Louisiana,
but his mother moved his family to Houston, Texas to gain distance from the
troubled lives led by his crack-addicted father and stepfather. In 2007, as
a young teenager,
Alsina uploaded covers of songs by Musiq Soulchild and
Lyfe Jennings, which racked up thousands of views on YouTube. His home
situation deteriorated, and he moved back to New Orleans, where he turned
to dealing drugs.
The shooting death of his brother was a wake-up call;
motivated to develop his talent as a singer, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia
and recorded a 2012 mixtape, The Product, which featured Lloyd on the track
"Sucka." Early in 2013,
Alsina released "I Luv This Shit" as the first
single from his second mixtape,
The Product 2. An EP, Downtown: Life Under
the Gun, followed in August 2013. "I Luv This Shit" subsequently peaked at
number 13 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart and crossed into
the Hot 100, where it reached number 48. Alsina's proper debut album,
Testimony, was released in April 2014. It featured appearances from Rick
Ross, Pusha T, and Fabolous, and reached number two on the overall albums
chart. ~ Andy Kellman
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