Clive James "CJ" Brooks[1] (born 1 February 1992), known professionally as Yungen, is a British rapper, singer and songwriter from Herne Hill, South London.
[7][8][9] Brooks listened to a diverse range of music genres growing up, with Wretch 32 and Giggs being among his major inspirations,[2] though his father's brief time working as a hip-hop DJ and his three sisters' love of R&B would prove to be the dominant influences.
[9][11] 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.
[11] After seeing Giggs, another estate-raised rapper, on TV, Brooks became serious about pursuing music as a career and released his first mixtape, Tha New Era Project, in 2009.
[22] 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.
[23] 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.
The argument began when Chip implied that Brooks did not deserve his MOBO Award nomination, which escalated to releasing diss tracks about each other.
[12][4] Brooks became the face of the Converse Chuck Taylor All Star x Nike Flyknit shoe in 2017 and headlined the launch event at Victoria House, London in April.
[31][4] Brooks' first single of 2017, "Bestie" featuring Yxng Bane, was released in June and climbed the UK Charts, reaching the top 10 in October and achieving Gold status in November, followed by Platinum in February 2018.
[36][37][4] In September, Brooks announced that his The Chosen Tour would begin on 16 November in Glasgow and end on 1 December at the Dublin Academy.
[45] 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.