Unlimited Streaming
Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps
Start my trial period and start listening to this albumEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
SubscribeEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
Digital Download
Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.
For those who didn't get around to checking the brief 2013 release Downtown: Life Under the Gun, August Alsina opens his first full-length with "Testify," a ballad that, with grim elegance, lays out the New Orleans native's background. Within a matter of four minutes, he sings of abandonment, envy, poverty, desperation, survival, and the death of his brother. When he confesses, "Didn't graduate, I'm thinkin' damn, I gotta deal," it's as if he is confronting a reality that coping and selling drugs -- "just to get a meal" -- are one and the same. Alsina begins the following "Make It Home" with "I don't always do what I should, but I do what I gotta do" like he has lived through what no young man -- or any other human -- should ever experience. He's not strictly wrapped up in his world, however, devoting the sweet trunk rattler "You Deserve" to "the girl down the hall, misused and abused." There are a couple slips into material that's beneath him, like "Porn Star," which somewhat amusingly leads to a track titled "FML" that is, ironically, less dreary in color. "Benediction" closes the album proper in a grounded but triumphant manner, where the singer beams, "Now I'm in a place where I ain't gotta scheme no more," like that means much more to him than any material possession. Throughout, Alsina is joined by the likes of Young Jeezy, Pusha T, Fabolous, and Rick Ross, and though he's a natural match with most of them, he could have carried the whole album on his own with ease. This is a gratifying second step from one of the most exciting contemporary R&B artists to appear during the 2010s. ["Ghetto," a Downtown standout, is present in shorter form with Yo Gotti in place of Rich Homie Quan. The Top 15 R&B/Hip-Hop hit "I Luv This Shit" is thrown in as one of two standard-edition bonus tracks, while the deluxe edition adds two additional cuts, including the version of "I Luv This Shit" that features Trey Songz and Chris Brown.]
© Andy Kellman /TiVo
You are currently listening to samples.
Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.
Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.
From kr133,33/month
Jaycen Joshua, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Knucklehead, Producer - Ralph Jeanty, ComposerLyricist - Sean McMillion, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel, ComposerLyricist - August Alsina, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Samuel Irving III, ComposerLyricist - Ryan Kaul, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Robert Reese, ComposerLyricist - The Exclusives, Producer - Korner Keyz, Producer
℗ 2014 Def Jam Recordings, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Jay Jenkins, ComposerLyricist - Jaycen Joshua, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Jeezy, FeaturedArtist - Tony Rey, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Justin Featherstone, ComposerLyricist - Matthew Featherstone, ComposerLyricist - Christopher Featherstone, ComposerLyricist - Ralph Jeanty, ComposerLyricist - Sean McMillion, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel, ComposerLyricist - August Alsina, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - The Featherstones, Producer - William Featherstone, ComposerLyricist - Ryan Kaul, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2014 Def Jam Recordings, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Jaycen Joshua, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Knucklehead, Producer - Ralph Jeanty, ComposerLyricist - Sean McMillion, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel, ComposerLyricist - August Alsina, Producer, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Samuel Irving III, ComposerLyricist - Josh Cross, ComposerLyricist - Ryan Kaul, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - The Exclusives, Producer - Cassius J, Producer
℗ 2014 Def Jam Recordings, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Terius Nash, ComposerLyricist - Jaycen Joshua, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Ralph Jeanty, ComposerLyricist - Sean McMillion, Engineer, StudioPersonnel, ComposerLyricist - August Alsina, Producer, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Clarence Scarborough, ComposerLyricist - Ryan Kaul, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Bart Schoudel, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Ken "K-Fam" Fambro, ComposerLyricist - Clifford Henson, ComposerLyricist - The Exclusives, Producer - The Beat Freqz, Producer
℗ 2014 Def Jam Records, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Christopher Gholson, ComposerLyricist - Christopher "Drumma Boy" Gholson, Producer - Jaycen Joshua, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - David Brown, ComposerLyricist - Maurice Wade, ComposerLyricist - Sean McMillion, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - August Alsina, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Ryan Kaul, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - The Exclusives, Producer
℗ 2014 Def Jam Recordings, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
John McGee, ComposerLyricist - Scott Naughton, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Ralph Jeanty, ComposerLyricist - Sean McMillion, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel, ComposerLyricist - Gary Rafael Hill, ComposerLyricist - Rafael "DJ Spinz" Hill, Producer - August Alsina, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - The Exclusives, Producer - Xeryus Gittens, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2014 Def Jam Recordings, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Terrence Thornton, ComposerLyricist - Christopher Gholson, ComposerLyricist - Christopher "Drumma Boy" Gholson, Producer - Leslie Brathwaite, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Pusha T, FeaturedArtist - Samuel Jean, ComposerLyricist - Ralph Jeanty, ComposerLyricist - Sean McMillion, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel, ComposerLyricist - Daniel Zaidenstadt, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - August Alsina, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - The Exclusives, Producer
℗ 2014 Def Jam Recordings, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Jasper Cameron, Producer, ComposerLyricist - Fabolous, FeaturedArtist - JOHN JACKSON, ComposerLyricist - Scott Naughton, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Ralph Jeanty, ComposerLyricist - Sean McMillion, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel, ComposerLyricist - D. Cunningham, ComposerLyricist - Gary Rafael Hill, ComposerLyricist - Rafael "DJ Spinz" Hill, Producer - August Alsina, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Elvis "Blac Elvis" Williams, Sound Effects, AssociatedPerformer - Steve "Rock Star" Dickey, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2014 Def Jam Recordings, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Mario Mims, ComposerLyricist - Knucklehead, Producer - Yo Gotti, FeaturedArtist - Ralph Jeanty, ComposerLyricist - Sean McMillion, Mixer, Engineer, StudioPersonnel, ComposerLyricist - August Alsina, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Samuel Irving III, ComposerLyricist - The Exclusives, Producer - Briana Payne, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2014 Def Jam Recordings, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Jasper Cameron, Producer, ComposerLyricist - Scott Naughton, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - August Alsina, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - The Exclusives, Producer
℗ 2014 Def Jam Recordings, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
David Brown, ComposerLyricist - Scott Naughton, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - August Alsina, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Dan Cahill, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - David Claxton, ComposerLyricist - D.Clax, Producer
℗ 2014 Def Jam Recordings, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Ralph Jeanty, ComposerLyricist - Sean McMillion, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel, ComposerLyricist - August Alsina, Producer, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - The Exclusives, Producer - Briana Payne, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2014 Def Jam Recordings, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Eric Hudson, Producer, ComposerLyricist - William Roberts, ComposerLyricist - Jaycen Joshua, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Andrew Clifton, ComposerLyricist - Rick Ross, FeaturedArtist - Samuel Jean, ComposerLyricist - Ralph Jeanty, ComposerLyricist - Sean McMillion, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel, ComposerLyricist - August Alsina, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Ryan Kaul, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - The Exclusives, Producer
℗ 2014 Def Jam Recordings, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Jaycen Joshua, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Knucklehead, Producer - Cody Sciara, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Ralph Jeanty, ComposerLyricist - Sean McMillion, Producer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel, ComposerLyricist - Trehy Harris, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Trinidad James, FeaturedArtist - August Alsina, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Samuel Irving III, ComposerLyricist - Christine Massa, ComposerLyricist - Nicholaus Williams, ComposerLyricist
℗ 2013 Def Jam Records, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Mario Mims, ComposerLyricist - B.O.B, FeaturedArtist - Jaycen Joshua, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Yo Gotti, FeaturedArtist - Bobby Ray Simmons, Jr., ComposerLyricist - Ralph Jeanty, ComposerLyricist - Sean McMillion, ComposerLyricist - Dijon McFarlane, ComposerLyricist - Dijon "DJ Mustard" McFarlane, Producer - August Alsina, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Ryan Kaul, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2013 Def Jam Recordings
Jasper Cameron, Producer, ComposerLyricist - Scott Naughton, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - August Alsina, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Elvis "Blac Elvis" Williams, Sound Effects, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2014 Def Jam Recordings, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Chris Brown, FeaturedArtist, ComposerLyricist - Tremaine Neverson, ComposerLyricist - Smack, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jaycen Joshua, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Knucklehead, Producer - Trey Songz, FeaturedArtist - Brian Springer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Ralph Jeanty, ComposerLyricist - Sean McMillion, ComposerLyricist - Trehy Harris, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - August Alsina, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Samuel Irving III, ComposerLyricist - Christine Massa, ComposerLyricist - Anthony "Ant" Daniels, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2013 Def Jam Recordings, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Album review
For those who didn't get around to checking the brief 2013 release Downtown: Life Under the Gun, August Alsina opens his first full-length with "Testify," a ballad that, with grim elegance, lays out the New Orleans native's background. Within a matter of four minutes, he sings of abandonment, envy, poverty, desperation, survival, and the death of his brother. When he confesses, "Didn't graduate, I'm thinkin' damn, I gotta deal," it's as if he is confronting a reality that coping and selling drugs -- "just to get a meal" -- are one and the same. Alsina begins the following "Make It Home" with "I don't always do what I should, but I do what I gotta do" like he has lived through what no young man -- or any other human -- should ever experience. He's not strictly wrapped up in his world, however, devoting the sweet trunk rattler "You Deserve" to "the girl down the hall, misused and abused." There are a couple slips into material that's beneath him, like "Porn Star," which somewhat amusingly leads to a track titled "FML" that is, ironically, less dreary in color. "Benediction" closes the album proper in a grounded but triumphant manner, where the singer beams, "Now I'm in a place where I ain't gotta scheme no more," like that means much more to him than any material possession. Throughout, Alsina is joined by the likes of Young Jeezy, Pusha T, Fabolous, and Rick Ross, and though he's a natural match with most of them, he could have carried the whole album on his own with ease. This is a gratifying second step from one of the most exciting contemporary R&B artists to appear during the 2010s. ["Ghetto," a Downtown standout, is present in shorter form with Yo Gotti in place of Rich Homie Quan. The Top 15 R&B/Hip-Hop hit "I Luv This Shit" is thrown in as one of two standard-edition bonus tracks, while the deluxe edition adds two additional cuts, including the version of "I Luv This Shit" that features Trey Songz and Chris Brown.]
© Andy Kellman /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 17 track(s)
- Total length: 01:09:45
- Main artists: August Alsina
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Def Jam Recordings
- Genre: Soul/Funk/R&B R&B
© 2014 The Island Def Jam Music Group ℗ 2014 The Island Def Jam Music Group
Improve album informationWhy buy on Qobuz...
-
Stream or download your music
Buy an album or an individual track. Or listen to our entire catalogue with our high-quality unlimited streaming subscriptions.
-
Zero DRM
The downloaded files belong to you, without any usage limit. You can download them as many times as you like.
-
Choose the format best suited for you
Download your purchases in a wide variety of formats (FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF...) depending on your needs.
-
Listen to your purchases on our apps
Download the Qobuz apps for smartphones, tablets and computers, and listen to your purchases wherever you go.