August Alsina

August Alsina is a New Orleans native who blends R&B and hip-hop into his own soulful sound. Enduring a childhood plagued by drugs and alcohol, he used music as a coping mechanism and began to stir attention with his Youtube video uploads. His cover of Lyfe Jennings "Hypothetically" earned millions of views in just over a month, but real life tragedies diverted Alsina's musical journey. Following his father's fatal overdose and his brother's death by gunfire, he relocated to Atlanta and hunkered down to focus on his music. Alsina released a series of emotionally driven mixtapes before signing to Def Jam records and dropping his debut studio album Downtown: Life Under the Gun, in 2014.