But I felt that responsibility fall into my lap’Ĭhunkz has had the kind of dream YouTube career that so many kids fantasise about. ‘The number one rule was: don’t get involved in politics.
Chatting to him on Zoom, it’s easy to see why he has such a massive, loyal fanbase. His warm and charismatic personality makes him feel like someone you really could be friends with. The content Chunkz puts out feels natural and honest, unlike that of so many of the more polished, wealthy, big-name YouTubers. His videos – a mix of pranks, challenges, sports commentary and quizzes – regularly top 1m hits. His YouTube channel has more than 1.8 million subscribers. “As I was talking to them, I was doing damage control,” he says.Ĭhunkz is also a social media phenomenon. His dad avoided eye contact and his mother became really upset. So he stuttered his way through that moment, telling his parents about dropping out of university. For Somali kids, it’s not uncommon to have your parents push you toward a “reliable” career. Following in the steps of his three sisters, who had all graduated from university, he was studying financial maths at London Metropolitan University. For me, also a first generation British Somali, he is, as a genuine celebrity from our community, a unique figure – and a local hero.
I had this pressure that my parents wouldn’t accept me leaving.”Ĭhunkz is a first generation British Somali (his parents moved here from Somaliland in the late 80s). “I remember waking up for a lecture during the first few weeks of university, and I genuinely stared at my ceiling for 45 minutes, near tears, just thinking: I can’t do this. “It was the scariest day of my life,” says Amin Mohamed, AKA Chunkz, of the day in 2016 that he told his parents he was dropping out of university to focus on his YouTube channel.
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