Valentin Brunel (; born 17 December 1996), better known by his stage name Kungs ( ), is a French DJ, record producer and musician. A native of

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

, he released his first album ''

Layers Layer or layered may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Layers'' (Kungs album) * ''Layers'' (Les McCann album) * ''Layers'' (Royce da 5′9″ album) *“Layers”, the title track of Royce da 5′9″’s sixth studio album * Layer, a ...

'' in 2016 after success with " This Girl", a collaboration with

Cookin' on 3 Burners Cookin' on 3 Burners are an Australian funk trio from Melbourne, consisting of Jake Mason, Dan West and Ivan Khatchoyan. Their 2009 song " This Girl" was remixed by French DJ and record producer Kungs and released in February 2016. It became ...

that became an international hit for him, and the follow-ups "

Don't You Know Don't You Know may refer to: *" Don't You Know?", a song written by Bobby Worth and first recorded by Della Reese, 1959 * "Don't You Know" (Alexia song), the English version of "Dimmi come...", 2002 * "Don't You Know" (Kungs song), 2016 * "Don't Yo ...

" featuring

Jamie N Commons James Nicholas Commons (born 22 October 1988) is a British singer and songwriter, based in New Cross, London. Early life and education Commons was born in Bristol, England, but was raised, in part, in Chicago, Illinois, United States. At age ...

and " I Feel So Bad" featuring Ephemerals.

Career

Valentin chose the stage name 'KUNGS' ("mister" in Latvian) after searching online for the translation of the word 'gentleman' in various languages. He began playing music when he was five, playing a

djembe A djembe or jembe ( ; from Maninka language, Malinke ''jembe'' , N'Ko script, N'Ko: ) is a rope-tuned skin-covered goblet drum played with bare hands, originally from West Africa. According to the Bambara people in Mali, the name of the djembe ...

that was a gift from his parents. He grew up listening to

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

classics with his father, including

The Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...

and

The Kooks The Kooks () are an English indie rock band formed in 2004 in Brighton. The current lineup consists of Luke Pritchard on vocals and guitar, and Hugh Harris on bass, guitar, and synthesiser. Their music is primarily influenced by the 1960s Br ...

. He began writing and posting online his own compositions when he was seventeen. His remixes of " Jamming" by

Bob Marley and the Wailers Bob Marley and the Wailers (previously known as the Wailers and prior to that the Wailing Rudeboys, the Wailing Wailers and the Teenagers) were a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae band. The founding members, in 1963, were Bob Marley (Robert ...

and " West Coast" by

Lana Del Rey Elizabeth Woolridge Grant (born June 21, 1985), known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer-songwriter. Lana Del Rey discography, Her music is noted for its melancholic exploration of Glamour (presentation), glamor and Romanc ...

featuring new vocals from Molly both reached several million plays on

SoundCloud SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...

and

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. Kungs's remix of

Lost Frequencies Felix De Laet (born 30 November 1993), known by his stage name Lost Frequencies, is a Belgian DJ and record producer. He is best known for his singles " Are You with Me" in 2014, "Reality" featuring Janieck Devy in 2015, and " Where Are You No ...

' " Are You with Me" achieved more than 16 million views on YouTube. In January 2016, he was the opener of some performances in Europe on

David Guetta Pierre David Guetta (; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and record producer. He has sold over 10 million albums and 65 million singles globally, with more than 30 billion streams on Spotify. Guetta was voted the number one DJ in the DJ Mag ...

's Listen Tour. Kungs released his first

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

''This Girl'' in 2016 following his remix of

" This Girl",Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine
which reached number 1 in France, Germany and Switzerland and number 2 on the UK Singles Chart in 2016.Peaks in the UK: * All except noted: * For "Don't You Know": He has since released the single "

" featuring

and "I Feel So Bad" featuring Ephemerals. Kungs' three 2016 singles were released on his debut album ''

'', which was released on 4 November. On 23 March 2018 Kungs played a live set at the Miami Ultra Music Festival. He followed acts from fellow artists Raiden and Kosuke to perform his individual set on the 2018 Ultra Main Stage. On 22 July 2018 he performed at the

electronic dance music Electronic dance music (EDM), also referred to as dance music or club music, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and List of electronic dance music festivals, festivals. It is generally ...

festival Tomorrowland in Belgium.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Promotional singles

Other charting singles

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control 1996 births Living people 21st-century French male musicians French electronic dance music DJs French house musicians Musicians from Toulon French remixers Tropical house musicians