August Alsina
The Beginning
The twenty-two year old singer August Alsina, from New Orleans, Louisiana, came into the Hip Hop and R&B industry breaking records with a new sound. August shares his amazing voice with the his audience, telling his stories on how life growing up in a hostile environment was. August is best known for his single “I Luv This Shit” feat. Trinidad James. August recorded two mix tapes (The Product and The Product 2)and an EP called “Downtown: Life Under The Gun.” He also released his debut album Testimony on April 15, 2014.
Analogy of August Alsina’s Lyrics
August has a very lyrical and real sound to his music that shows his audience his inner feelings about his life. For instance, the song “Nobody Knows” is a example of a song, in which, August gives his audience a detailed view of what he feels. The hook of “Nobody Knows” states,
“Nobody knows what I go through
Wish you could put yourself inside my shoes
You got friends that ain’t friends no more
They don’t understand the life I chose
See the money and the fame
It can hurt everything you love
Got some people that depend on me
And I can’t give up
They don’t know what I’m going through
They don’t know what I’m going through”
In the first couple lines, August expresses to his audience that no one understands his inner feelings. The reason he says “ Wish you could put yourself inside my shoes”, he wants his audience to get a deeper look at what he feels on the inside. He continues with expressing his feelings about his lost friendships. By stating “ You got friends who ain’t friends no more”, August reflects on the people who he thought was his friends, but in reality August realized that those people were not trying to better themselves. They didn’t understand that August wanted to get away from the hostile living environment where he sold drugs and lived on the streets. “ See the money and the fame, it can hurt everything you love”, in this quote from the hook, August is saying that money can hurt you because, everyone expects something. Most people around August changed, because they thought he owed them something. When in reality everything was his and he chose who he wanted to give his money to. With saying “ Got some people that depend on me and I can’t give up”, at that very moment he toughens up and basically says screw everyone that is not with me. He makes music and will continue to grind hard for his family and everyone that stuck with him. In the last couple lines, August ends with reiterating his feelings that he made recognizable in the beginning of the hook.
A First Hand Experience of August.
From a personal experience, at August’s concerts he tells the reasons of writing his songs before he sings them. For instance, I can remember when he song “Nobody Knows” he told us a story of why he wrote this song. From what I remember August said that he just wanted everyone to know what it really was like being a successful musical artist. At the moment, I heard what he said, but because I was too busy yelling his name and crying at how handsome he was, his statement registered in my mind later.
August Continues
August continues to be successful. He just released a new song called Hip Hop, in which relates to the origins of Hip Hop and how Hip Hop has influenced many events in the world. August will continue to put out amazing music that will share his life stories.
