Yung Al

Yung Al, a Houston rapper, channeled fresh determination into his music after barely surviving a shooting. He poured his focus into rapping and introduced an irresistibly tuneful rap-singing approach on his first single, “Jungle Freestyle.” The track spread rapidly online, prompting him to issue the full-length mixtape The Yung Show in 2018, which continued in the same vein.

Although born in New Iberia, Louisiana, he was raised on Houston’s Southside in Texas. In 2018 he suffered a near-fatal shooting that left him hospitalized for months. Once recovered, he committed himself wholly to music, recounting his setbacks and successes through infectious tracks that blended singing and rapping. His earliest hit, “Jungle Freestyle,” had actually appeared online in late 2017, before the shooting. Uploaded as a video, the song amassed millions of streams while he kept releasing new material. The Yung Show became his debut mixtape in 2018, and the following year he issued the shorter EP Borrowed Time.