27 Tracks, over an hour-and-a-half of music, broken down one track at a time.
Last year, August Alsina announced that a severe autoimmune disease left him unable to walk. In that same announcement he teased that he had "so much new music" to share with fans, and one year later, it seems the 27-year-old singer was true to his word.
The Product III: State of EMERGEncy is the most hyped project from Alsina since his 2014 debut Testimony pushed him into stardom. It is also his first project under EMPIRE—a label with the reputation of serving as a safe haven for disgruntled former stars like T-Pain, Iggy Azalea and Kamaiyah.
The 27-song tracklist suggests Alsina has a new amount of artistic freedom, but long projects aren't for every fan. With that understanding, allow SoundSports to give State of EMERGEncy the Chris Brown project treatment and make this project more manageable.
How this works: Each song will receive a short review covering the main topics and any highlights. A category(skip, stream or save), rating and theme will be given at the end of each short review to help you decide if the song is worth the time.
Nola
Admittedly, I haven't listened to August Alsina since his 2014 peak, but this intro track was a good reminder of what type of artist he is—he can sing, harmonize rap, and sound authentic in his street descriptions. It allowed for contrasting appearances like his 2014 XXL rap cypher and his 2014 BET Awards performance to not raise any questions.
The song is a solid re-introduction to Alsina's style and who he is now, fittingly focused on where he's from.
Category: Stream | Rating: high 7 | Theme: Informational
2. Today
The second track is a surface-level grind track. Alsina's delivery is impressive, as he flows through the hook and his verses with ease, but the basic writing holds back a nice performance.
Category: Skip | Rating: High 5 | Theme: Resilient
3. Rounds
Through three tracks it's clear what market held August Alsina down over the last six years. He mentions New Orleans or Houston in every song so far, with two of the three featuring the cities in the hook. Throughout the track, he implements staples of both cities throughout the song, referencing the area codes, candy paint, Hot Boyz and implementing Houston's famous chopped and screwed sound.
While delivering his most intense vocal performance yet, Alsina details selling drugs and loved ones he's lost along the way. The concentration and passion he displays on "Rounds" easily make it the best song so far.
Category: Stream | Rating: Mid 8 | Theme: Hometown Rep
4. Lessons
Okay, he's heating up.
"Lessons" is the track that you expect but never get from stars that were shortlived. It's filled with admittance, advice and self-reflection. The track answers the question of how aware August Alsina is of his current standing, but it doesn't come off as self-pity, making it an introspective gem early in the project.
He does have a very side-mouth, 50 Cent delivery on the song which makes it hard to follow his verses, but the clear hook conveys the highlights well enough.
Category: Save | Rating: Mid 8 | Theme: Reflection
5. Sincerely
The production suddenly switches to a Summer Walker type beat.
It takes away from a pretty touching song dedicated to his nieces. Each verse is started with "Dear ___" followed by advice and loving praise to the specific niece. According to a 2019 interview with Ebony, following the death of his sister, Alsina has taken on the responsibility of raising his nieces.
If you can get past the production, "Sincerely" is a touching listen.
Category: Stream | Rating: Low 7 | Theme: Personal
6. Deliver Us(feat. Darrel Walls)
Six tracks in it's pretty clear August Alsina isn't trying to return to stardom.
"Deliver Us" has the feeling of an angry confessional, as Alsina recalls his tough upbringing and questioning his faith at times. The end of the track stays on the religious theme with Darrel Walls singing a prayer as the first feature of the project.
The feature and feel of the song make it one of the higher replayable tracks of the project.
Category: Save | Rating: High 8 | Theme: Faith
7. RRR (Real Recognize Real)
"RRR" is the first instance of theme repetition. It was bound to happen on a 27-track project, and it's one of the main reasons this article exists.
Similar to "Today", track seven features Alsina reflecting on his past and what he grinded through to make it, but instead of staying surface level, he digs deeper on "RRR". Instead of just saying grind, the lyrics provide imagery of his grind with lines like, "I used to grind for a meal, but now I'm fed, nigga, I used to beg for a spot to lay my head, nigga."
Category: Stream | Rating: High 6 | Theme: Resilience
8. Fly Far
I'm 90% positive this is a GarageBand preset beat. The lazy delivery and lyrics match the beat. This is an all-around lazy song.
Category: Skip | Rating: 0 | Theme: Wanting Better
9. Feeling
Right when August Alsina was starting to lose me, he drops off a standout track with a universal theme.
"Feeling" covers temptation about as well as a song can. The stripped production paired with the raw lyrics makes you feel like a spectator inside the mind of Alsina, as he battles with reasoning a friendship that is borderline cheating. It sounds like a Brent Faiyaz song, but Alsina has a conscious.
Category: Save | Rating: Low 9 | Theme: Temptation
10. Perfect Strangers
We have gotten to the portion of the album where August Alsina does what he does best—sing about women in detail.
He perfectly covers the pros of a one-night stand—attraction, the unknown and no commitment requirements. And that's just the hook. The verses go into specifics on Alsina's strip club interactions, but the hook makes the song special.
Category: Save | Rating: Low 9 | Theme: One Night Stand
11, Pretty
After two of the best songs of the project, Alsina cools himself down with another niche song. This one is dedicated to complementing the looks and resiliency of women with a tough upbringing.
If you fit that demographic, then "Pretty" is for you. If not, find someone who does and send them the song to show them appreciation, preferably a Black woman. Actually, only a Black woman.
Category: Stream or Share(with Black women only) | Rating: Low 5 | Theme: Uplifting
12. 4Real
I think I've begun to spot the sequencing pattern of State of EMERGEncy. Every two or three songs seem to relate to each other in similar themes.
"4Real" isn't as uplifting as "Pretty", but it does show recognition of importance, which depending on who you ask, can be taken as uplifting. Nevertheless, track 12 isn't as good as the similar track directly before it.
Category: Skip | Rating: Mid 4 | Theme: Recognition
13. Work to Do
Chris Brown would be great on this song; it sounds like something from Heartbreak on Full Moon. The two were friends in 2014 and proved their duo capability on DJ Khaled's "Hold You Down", but they've yet to collab since.
Sad stuff, anyways.
"Work to Do" continues to follow the relationship path Alsina has been following for the last few tracks, and it's the best of the bunch, as he pushes his vocals more than he has at any other point halfway through the project.
Category: Stream | Rating: Mid 7 | Theme: Relationship
14. Be Good
This feels like the last of the relationship arc of State of EMERGEncy. Alsina sings about how the end of the relationship won't hurt him that much.
The lyrics give off an IDGAF tone, but the delivery paints a picture of hurt, meaning Alsina perfectly captures a modern breakup.
Category: Stream or Save(if breakup is near) | Rating: Low 8 | Theme: Breakup
15. Soon As I Walk In(feat. Tink)
We have now entered the sensual part of the project. This project could honestly be cut down to 9-12 songs if August Alsina would have just picked the best song that represents each.
Sadly, he did not and here we are.
With that being said "Soon As I Walk In" is a very pedestrian average sex song. For the first time on the project, the production outshines Alsina, as he fails to create a gripping track due to basic lyrics.
Category: Skip | Rating: Low 4 | Theme: Sex
16. Tonight
Maybe Alsina chose to make three different versions of every theme because he knew one of the three was bound to hit the mark. If so, it's a very inefficient yet smart approach. He gets the streams of 27 songs, and fans are happy taking the best ones for their library.
Back to the review, "Tonight" is the one for Alsina in the sex theme, thanks to descriptive writing.
I'm willing to bet the next song will be another sex song, in which, I will walk away from my laptop out of pure frustration towards this project's sequencing.
Category: Stream | Rating: Low 7 | Theme: Sex
17. Longer
Son of a bitch. I'm going on a walk. No review for "Longer".
Category: Skip | Rating: Mid 3 | Theme: Sex
18. Sleeve
I don't know what string instrument is playing, but it's making the production and song 10 times better. As good as, the production is, it doesn't fit Alsina.
He spends most of the song singing at a pace that sounds uncomfortable for him, repeating the "I wear my heart on my sleeve" hook to a point of annoyance.
Category: Skip | Rating: Mid 4 | Theme: Relationship Reflection
19. Chase
"Chase" is the first instance of toxic August Alsina. He talks about making excuses to not settle down and how he'd rather pursue many women than stay with the one right woman.
The lyrics are really good, but the hook delivery is kind of just a random increase in volume at times, and it makes the song lose appeal.
Category: Skip | Rating: Low 5 | Theme: Commitment Issues
20. Brakes(feat. Yo Gotti)
The beat grabs your attention right away; it doesn't sound like anything else on the album.
"Brakes" sounds like a song with high streaming aspirations. The lyrics are simple yet engaging. The hook is simple yet memorable. And there's a rap feature.
Category: Stream | Rating: Mid 6 | Theme: Grind
21, Broken Rollie
The verses are really good. August Alsina does his best Mario impression, as he harmonizes about how this woman doesn't see her worth.
The hook is really bad. It's corny and repetitive. He compares the same woman to a rollie with a broken face, suggesting that she's worth a lot but damaged at the moment. He then hammers in the analogy by repeating "broken rollie" several times.
Category: Stream | Rating: Low 6 | Theme: Self-Worth
22. If We Broke Up
When you get to the point of a project where you're singing vividly about contradicting hypotheticals, maybe you've gone too far. We're at that point in this project.
For nearly three minutes August Alsina sings about all of the petty things he would do if he and his girlfriend break up only to say "Forgot I was just what iffin' (Yeah), hypothetical inquisition (Yeah), I forgot that we both in a good place."
Is my time a joke to you August Alsina?
Some of the hypothetical actions are pretty creative though. So creative that there's no way he and his girl are "in a good place", but I digress.
Category: Skip | Rating: High 3 | Theme: Breakup
23. Ready
This is a really good song. I take back my previous statement that "Tonight" is the best sex song. "Ready" is miles ahead of all other sex songs on this project. It's playlist worthy.
Category: Save | Rating: Low 9 | Theme: Sex
24. Bossin Up
We've heard this song already. Three times actually. "RRR" and "Today" are better alternatives for this song.
Category: Skip | Rating: High 3 | Theme: Resilience
25. Party Til
When I heard the Mustard drop I was expecting something special, but "Party Til" is nothing more than a very forgettable party song.
I don't know what party would play this song. Maybe it gets played at the very beginning of a party when barely anyone is there, or maybe it's the song DJs play to let people know the party is almost over. I genuinely don't know, but I know it's not a good party.
Category: Skip | Rating: 0 | Theme: Party
26. Resent(feat. Lil Wayne & Juicy J)
The production is really good. Lil Wayne is Lil Wayne. Juicy J is Juicy J. And Alsina follows up Wayne's verse with one of his best verses of the project. He goes so hard on the verse that you wish he explored this theme more on the project.
If this project was condensed into its best possible self, this track would make it without question.
Category: Stream | Rating: Mid 8 | Theme: Haters
27. Still Don't Know
The audacity of August Alsina to end a 27-song project by saying people still don't know what he goes through or what's on his mind is insane.
You had 26 songs to make everyone know.
Category: Skip | Rating: Mid 4 | Theme: Outro
If you made it this far, like the article. If you enjoy SoundSports, subscribe and never miss an update.
Comments