On Friday (Dec. 11), August Alsina officially dropped his new album This Thing Called Life along with an emotional video for one of the album’s cuts, “Song Cry.”

The nearly four and a half minute, Payne Lindsey-directed clip, opens with Alsina getting stranded in the desert when his motorcycle runs out of gas. Elsewhere, he sits on the bed in his motel room as rose petals fall to the floor and a ballerina dances in the rain. The video also shows the New Orleans crooner waking up in a bed of roses and singing in front of a burning casket, while tears of blood stream down his face.

“Song Cry” is the third track from the album to get visual treatment, following “Hip Hop” and the Lil Wayne-assisted “Why I Do It.”

Alsina first shared “Song Cry” back in October via YouTube. The song finds Alsina reflecting on darker times, namely dealing with fame and coping with his brother's death.

“I can’t hold back these tears / Let me cry / They say a man ain’t supposed to cry / So I’ma let the song cry,” he sings on the chorus, in reference to Jay Z’s 2002 hit, which bears the same name.

Alsina also opens up about other family matters (“I tried to buy my mama’s love, she don’t appreciate it”), suicidal thoughts and his peers in the music industry (“I figured maybe Jay or Cole or Drizzy Drake would drop a verse and tell the people how we hurtin’ / Guess I was mistaken”).

This Thing Called Life is Alsina’s second studio effort and features guest spots from Anthony Hamilton, Jadakiss and Chris Brown.

Fans have been patiently awaiting Alsina’s sophomore release for some time now, partly due to touring and partly due to the fact that he's had a few medical issues. This summer, the "I Luv This Sh*t" singer revealed that he has a disease called Keratoconus, which caused blindness in his left eye and loss of vision in his right. He underwent a surgery that would prevent his vision from getting worse. Prior to that, the 23-year-old fell into a coma after collapsing on stage during a New York performance.

His debut, Testimony, was released in 2014.

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