Yungen

Clive James "CJ" Brooks He first gained recognition for his 2011 freestyle video for SB.TV and in 2015 was nominated for Best Newcomer at the MOBO Awards. His 2017 song "Bestie" featuring Yxng Bane reached top 10 in the UK Singles Chart in October and became his first platinum single in February 2018.

Early life Clive James Brooks was born on 1 February 1992 and raised in Lairdale Estate. He was inspired by Eminem and 50 Cent as he began rapping. As a young teenager, Brooks was inspired by an older cousin to try MCing, but it took several years to overcome his shyness enough to record anything for YouTube. In 2008, when Brooks was 16, a close friend died while riding a moped and Brooks sat with him in his final moments. When the video was reuploaded to the channel Yungen TV, it received interest from SB.TV founder Jamal Edwards, which led to SB.TV releasing his freestyle video "F64" in 2011. His solo mixtape Topic of Discussion was released in April 2013. The same year, he started his own clothing line, Forever Yung.

In 2014, he supported Naughty Boy on his worldwide tour, traveling to the UAE, Australia, and across Europe. The same year, he released the two-part Project Black and Red, which featured artists Stormzy, Wretch 32, and Krept and Konan. That August, Brooks released "Ain't on Nuttin" with rapper Sneakbo. The two remixes (Part 1 and Part 2) featured rappers such as Section Boyz, Bashy, Stormzy and Ghetts. He also released "Don't Take It Personal", a song exploring darker themes from his childhood, including being kidnapped by another estate resident, on his SoundCloud.

After the release of Project Black and Red, Brooks was nominated for the 2015 MOBO Best Newcomer Award and signed his first record contract with Sony RCA that November. BBC Radio 1Xtra named him one of the hottest new artists to watch for 2016, and in February he released his single "Comfy". Brooks independently released the single "You Don't Know Me Like That" on 5 February, was shortly followed by the R&B-inspired "Take My Number" featuring Angel on 10 May; "Cuffing Season" under House of Forever on 24 November; and "Do It Right", a collaboration with Sneakbo featuring Haile of WSTRN, on 6 December.

That year, he also gained publicity for a verbal disagreement with the rapper Chip. The argument began when Chip implied that Brooks did not deserve his MOBO Award nomination, which escalated to releasing diss tracks about each other. When the dispute was resolved, this exposure ultimately helped both their rapping credibility, and their music reached a wider audience. His single "Fools Gold" was released shortly after. He then played Jamaica House at the Indigo at the O2 on 10 August, and the V Festival on 20 August. He followed the announcement with two giveaway tracks: "Chosen" on 13 October and "All Night" featuring Mr Eazi on 27 October. Tickets for the Chosen Tour, including those for Shepherd's Bush Empire, sold out.

Brooks featured on Steel Banglez's, "Bad" in November 2017 alongside MoStack, Mr Eazi and Not3s. This song reached #30 on the UK Singles Chart. In 2018, he teamed up with Clean Bandit and Julia Michaels to release a remix of "I Miss You" on 5 January. He collaborated with Timberland in 2019 to release the Brooklyn collection, a retro-inspired trainer.

In 2020, he released the singles "Handsome", featuring M24 in April and "Mané & Salah" (named for Liverpool players Sadio Mané and Mo Salah) in July. In February 2022, Brooks put out the single "Popstar" as a lead-up to his next album, Passionate & Paranoid, which featured artists Ghetts, Krept and Konan, and Avelino. Brooks' first single of 2024 was "Dave & Cench Type Beat", a song reminiscent of Dave and Central Cee's 2023 beat "Sprinter". Brooks' August release, "Is This What You Want?", was accompanied by a music video.

Discography Albums Project Black & Red (2014) Project Purple (2019) Passionate & Paranoid (2022)

Mixtapes Topic of Discussion (2013)

Singles As lead artist

BPI: Platinum 98 — "Mind on It" 2018 47 27 "Intimate" — — "Pricey" 94 — Project Purple "Comfortable" 2019 32 18 BPI: Silver 2017 29 19 BPI: Platinum 2019 66 34 BPI: Silver Best Newcomer Yungen NME Awards Best Newcomer Yungen 2016 Urban Music Awards Best Grime Act Yungen Best Male Act Yungen 2017 MOBO Awards Best Song "Bestie" featuring Yxng Bane Urban Music Awards Best Song "Bestie" featuring Yxng Bane Best Male Act Yungen 2018 NME Awards Best Collaboration "Bestie" featuring Yxng Bane Global Awards Rising Star Award Yungen