It’s been five years since August Alsina released an album (2015’s This Thing Called Life), but that wasn’t the plan. Life just interrupted things.
On top of an ongoing battle with a severe auto-immune disease called Guaillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), the NOLA native also took on the responsibility of being the guardian to his three nieces after his sister lost a battle with cancer and passed away on Christmas night in 2018.
August won’t let anything derail his progress, though. Through the ups and downs, he’s kept his head held high while working on himself, his family, and health. “While on my journey I’ve discovered that life is like one huge puzzle with limitless pieces,” he explains. “I’ve been putting the pieces of my puzzle together with my new music and documentary.”
Finally ready to share his story, Alsina has released his third album, The Product III: stateofEMERGEncy, as well as a five-part documentary called stateofEMERGEncy: The Rise of August Alsina.
“The goal of this project is to expose myself through the art and to help others reveal their true selves,” Alsina says “Go back into the past, bring it into the present and positively impact our future. I want to show the community that we’ve all had to overcome some type of obstacle. Some greater than others, but pain is pain… and pain and its threshold is subject and different for each individual.
“Through the sharing of my own life stores, I hope to show that these things are only experiences and they do not define who we are. It is simply given to us to help build and grow, catapulting us into our next dimension into our newer selves.
“I remember a time thinking that the many trials I’ve faced were sent to destroy me. I later leaned that a seed must completely destroy itself in order to become a flower… We’re that seed, we’re that flower. We’re that caterpillar, changing & growing hour by hour… and just like the caterpillar we must go through a metamorphosis, coming into new form, into the butterfly that we were always meant to be.”
Equipped with 27 tracks, stateofEMERGEncy includes features from Lil Wayne, Yo Gotti, Tink, Juicy J, and Darrel Walls. Press play below and be sure to add August’s latest album on your preferred streaming platform.
