Momodou Junior Choi, professionally known as Jnr Choi (born 20 May 1999) is a Gambian-British rapper, singer-songwriter and model based in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. He rose to prominence with his 2021 single " To the Moon", which gained popularity on

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

and charted worldwide, including peaking at #38 on the US

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), ...

and #1 on the US Rhythmic chart.

Early life

Jnr Choi was born in

The Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

and relocated to Thamesmead, South-East London where he grew up, before relocating to southend

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

to pursue a career in modelling.

Career

Modelling career

Choi started his career as a model where he worked for companies like

Givenchy Givenchy (, ) is a French luxury fashion and perfume house. It hosts the brand of haute couture and ready-to-wear clothing, accessories, perfumes and cosmetics of Parfums Givenchy. The house of Givenchy was founded in 1952 by designer Hubert d ...

Philipp Plein Philipp Patrick Hannes Plein (born 16 February 1978) is a German fashion designer, entrepreneur, and the founder of the Philipp Plein International Group, which includes the Philipp Plein, Plein Sport, and Billionaire brands. He is the founder ...

, AMIRI and Marcelo Burlon.

Musical career

After modelling for years, Choi piqued an interest in music in 2016 after listening to

The Weeknd Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (; born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is best known for adding Pop music, pop, electronic music, electronic and hip-hop stylings ...

's 2012 compilation album ''

Trilogy A trilogy is a set of three distinct works that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games. Three-part works that are considered components of ...

'', which was suggested to him by his friend. He became inspired and captivated. He didn't record until 2018, when he released his debut single, "Moves". Since then he has released multiple singles, including "Undress" featuring Mitchy Iris, "BEVEDERE", and "Reality". His debut studio album ''SS21'' was released in 2021. His breakthrough single, " To the Moon", which sampled British singer-songwriter Sam Tompkins's cover of

Bruno Mars Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is known for his three-octave tenor vocal range, live performances, R ...

's 2010 single "

Talking to the Moon "Talking to the Moon" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bruno Mars from his debut studio album, '' Doo-Wops & Hooligans'' (2010). The song was first unveiled on Mars' debut extended play, ''It's Better If You Don't Understand'' (2010), ...

", was released in October of that year. "To The Moon" was later remixed by Gunna,

Fivio Foreign Maxie Lee Ryles III (born March 29, 1990), known by his stage name Fivio Foreign (), is an American rapper from New York. He first saw mainstream recognition for his 2019 single " Big Drip", which received platinum certification by the Recording ...

and

Russ Millions Shylo Batchelor Ashby Milwood (born 20 March 1996), known professionally as Russ Millions (formerly Russ, Russ Splash or RussMB), is an English rapper and performing artist. In December 2018 he released his single "Gun Lean" on Virgin Records. ...

in 2022. His single "Tick Tock" was released the same year. On October 25, 2024, he released his album Summer Flings, a vibrant six-track collection blending Afro and house influences.

References

External links

Jnr Choi
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

{{Portal bar, Biography, Music, The Gambia, United Kingdom Living people 1999 births Gambian musicians British people of Gambian descent UK drill musicians British drill musicians Drill musicians Black British male rappers 21st-century British rappers British male rappers 21st-century male rappers British male models Gambian emigrants to England Models from Essex Models from London Musicians from Essex Musicians from the London Borough of Bexley People from Thamesmead