August Alsina

Alsina was born on September 3, 1992 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He attended middle school in New Orleans. Although no one in his family was musically inclined, he was inspired to sing by Lauryn Hill in Sister Act 2. Alsina first uploaded videos to YouTube in 2007 at age 14, starting with a cover of "Hypothetically" by Lyfe Jennings. With both his father and stepfather battling crack cocaine addiction, Alsina's mother moved him to Houston, Texas, in search of a fresh start after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Then, Alsina's father died. == Career ==

2012–2014: Downtown: Life Under The Gun and Testimony His first mixtape The Product was released in April 2012, though an "Untitled" mixtape with six acoustic covers premiered in October 2011. His single "I Luv This Shit" featuring Trinidad James was released in January 2013, and his mixtape The Product 2 followed in May 2013. The EP Downtown: Life Under the Gun was released on August 20, 2013, with a video for "Hell on Earth" released the following month. On December 9, 2013, the third single from his EP Downtown: Life Under the Gun, "Ghetto" featuring Rich Homie Quan, was serviced to urban contemporary radio and it was the most added song on urban radio the week ending December 12, 2013. On January 14, 2014, Alsina released "Make It Home" featuring Jeezy, as the lead single from his debut studio album. Along with the release, it was revealed that the album would be titled Testimony, which was released on April 15, 2014. He was named part of the 2014 XXL freshmen class. 2015–2016: This Thing Called Life On December 11, 2015, Alsina released his second studio album, This Thing Called Life. It debuted at number 14 on the Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 41,000 copies in the United States. The album was supported by five singles; "Hip Hop", "Why I Do It" (featuring Lil Wayne), "Song Cry", "Been Around the World" (featuring Chris Brown) and "Dreamer". 2017–present: The Product III: stateofEMERGEncy Alsina had been working on his third studio album since 2017. On January 6, 2017, Alsina released the singles "Drugs". Then on June 1, 2017, "Lonely", and on June 6, 2017, "Don't Matter" was released for the album. The album, The Product III: State of Emergency was eventually released on June 26, 2020. The singer announced that the album highlights "the struggle in my life, my upbringing as a crack baby, losing my father and sister, and becoming the guardian for my three nieces", as well as his battle with the auto-immune disease that affected him. On September 21, 2021, he announced that he was “likely” retiring from music. However in March 2023 he released a new album titled "MySelf". == Artistry ==

Alsina's music generally falls into the R&B category, often fusing it with hip-hop. His musical influences are Chris Brown, Usher and Lyfe Jennings. == Personal life ==

Health condition In 2015, the singer revealed that he was going blind due to a degenerative eye disease. In 2017, the singer revealed that he suffers from a severe autoimmune disease that attacks his liver. This illness has led to multiple incidents including a collapse on stage in 2014 which he ended up in a three-day coma. On July 8, 2019, Alsina updated his health scare. In a video he posted to Instagram, the singer explained that he was hospitalized after suffering a loss of mobility. "We're doing a bunch of tests and they're saying I have some nerve damage going on throughout my body". Jada Pinkett Smith relationship In June 2020, Alsina, a friend of Jada Pinkett Smith's son Jaden, said that he and Pinkett Smith had been involved in an adulterous affair in 2016, when he was 23 years old and she was 44. He also claimed that the affair happened with Jada's husband Will Smith's permission. After Jada's use of the word "entanglement" went viral on the Internet, Alsina released a collaboration titled "Entanglements" with rapper Rick Ross on July 19, 2020, in which Alsina sings "You left your man just to fuck with me and break his heart". August Alsina’s Relationship with Zu Alsina first publicly introduced Zu, a male R&B singer, during an episode of the reality TV series The Surreal Life in 2022, where he stated that he wanted to honour Zu for the love they share. This declaration prompted widespread speculation, as fans interpreted it as Alsina coming out publicly. Online speculation intensified following their appearance at Atlanta Pride Weekend in 2025. In response, Zu took to Instagram and addressed rumors—particularly about their age difference—clarifying that he met Alsina when he was already an adult. In the same statement, he also went on to state that “August is my boyfriend, and we’re happy with each other, simple...” == Discography ==

• Testimony (2014) • This Thing Called Life (2015) • The Product III: State of Emergency (2020) • Myself (2023) == Awards and nominations ==

=== BET Awards === == Tours ==

Headlining • Testimony Live (2014) Supporting • The UR Experience Tour (2014) • One Hell of a Nite Tour (2015) == References ==