Chunkz: ‘I paved the way for myself as a YouTuber’

The social media phenomenon on honouring his Somali heritage, balancing fame and faith, and spending lockdown with his YouTube Beta Squad

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. 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. I had this pressure [weighing on me] that my parents wouldn't accept me leaving."

Chunkz is a first generation British Somali (his parents moved here from Somaliland in the late 80s). For me, also a first generation British Somali, he is, as a genuine celebrity from our community, a unique figure - and a local hero. Following in the steps of his three sisters, who had all graduated from university, he was studying financial maths at London Metropolitan University. For Somali kids, it's not uncommon to have your parents push you toward a reliable" career. So he stuttered his way through that moment, telling his parents about dropping out of university. His dad avoided eye contact and his mother became really upset. As I was talking to them, I was doing damage control," he says.