Christopher Omenye, professionally known as Yung L (pronounced Young L), is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, and performer.

Early life

Yung L was born and raised in Jos, Plateau state. His mother greatly influenced his decision to become a musician, first by introducing him to the church drummer, and later, to the church pianist (Meca-E of Square Records). They both taught him the rudimentary aspects of music and how to play certain instruments. He soon began playing the drums in church, and Secondary School. A graduate of the

University of Jos The University of Jos, abbreviated as Unijos, is a Federal University in Jos, Plateau State, central Nigeria. History What became the University of Jos was established in November 1971 from the satellite campus of the University of Ibadan. ...

, Omenye started singing, rapping, and performing at social events and joined a music group known as Mac9. They performed songs by some of Yung L’s musical influences such as

Damian Marley Damian Robert Nesta "Jr. Gong" Marley (born 21 July 1978) is a Jamaican DJ, singer, lyricist and rapper. He is the recipient of four Grammy Awards. Early life, education and family Damian Marley is the youngest son of reggae musician Bob Marle ...

and

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...

Music career

While attending the University of Jos Medical School, Yung L met other budding musicians, such as

Ice Prince Panshak Henry Zamani (born 30 October 1984) better known as Ice Prince Zamani or just Ice Prince, is a Nigerian rapper, hip hop recording artist and actor. He rose to fame after releasing " Oleku", one of Nigeria's most remixed songs of all t ...

(formerly, Endia, J.Milla, and Chopstix the producer. Together, they formed the GRIP movement, with Yung L acting as president of the Grip Music label. Grip music comprises individual artists Yung L, Endia, Jmilla, and chopstix, who are collectively known as the Grip Boiz- in the manner of the Choc Boys and WuTang Clan. In 2011, they moved to

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

to pursue their music careers full-time. Prior to signing his record deal with Chocolatecity Music, Yung L performed and released music as an independent artist. During this period he released singles like ''Pass The Aux,'' ''SOS'' which was nominated for MTV’s Music Video of the Year Award In 2017, Yung L,

Skales Raoul John Njeng-Njeng (born 1 April 1991), better known by his stage name Skales (an acronym for Seek Knowledge Acquire Large Entrepreneurial Skills), is a Nigerian rapper, singer, and songwriter. In 2000, he started writing rap songs in Kadun ...

and producer Chopstix were featured by

Major Lazer Major Lazer is an American electronic dance music DJ trio, which includes record producer Diplo, and DJs Walshy Fire and Ape Drums. It originates from Kingston, Jamaica, and was founded in 2008 by Diplo and Switch, with Switch leaving after ...

on the remix of "

Run Up "Run Up" is a song by American electronic band Major Lazer featuring PartyNextDoor and Nicki Minaj. It was released on YouTube on January 26, 2017, by Mad Decent and Because Music, intended to be the second single from Music Is the Weapon. But i ...

" which also features

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated Flow (rapping), flow in her rapping, alter e ...

and

PartyNextDoor Jahron Anthony Brathwaite (born July 3, 1993), known professionally as PartyNextDoor (stylized as PARTYNEXTDOOR), is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and record producer. PartyNextDoor was the first artist signed to Drake's OVO Sound record labe ...

, this gained him more international recognition. With

Chocolate City Music Chocolate City is a Nigerian record label founded in 2005 by lawyer Audu Maikori along with Paul Okeugo and Yahaya Maikori. Generally regarded the biggest and most successful indigenous urban record labels in Africa, Chocolate City Music opera ...

he released singles and an album titled 'Better Late Than Never'. which features the Ghanaian artist Sarkodie and others.

Discography

*''Better Late Than Never'' (2017) *''Jollification'' (EP) (2019) *''Juice & Zimm'' (EP) (2020)

Singles

*"SOS" *"Fever" *"Red Rose" *"Cheers" *"Gbewa" *"Pressure" (featuring Sarkodie and Jaij Hollands) *"Eve Bounce" *"Eve Bounce remix" (featuring

Wizkid Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun (born 16 July 1990), known professionally as Wizkid, is a Nigerian singer and songwriter. A prominent figure in the modern-day Afrobeats music scene, Wizkid is regarded as one of the biggest and most influential Afri ...

)

References

{{authority control Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Nigerian singer-songwriters