CHCKLK Premieres An Ominous, Self-Reflective Video For “Young Boy”

Though there is not much by way of biographical background available for New York singer CHCKLK, he has laid himself bare with his first single "Young Boy." A looming R&B track, it finds him parsing his bumpy upbringing through dark melodies. This is the story of a young boy who grew into a young man/ who grew into his own skin, didn't choose the game but it chose him, he sings.

In the video, he reimagines those years as a long, pained stumble through a dark suburb. His shirt is bloodied, and the streets are empty—until the end, at which point he comes face-to-face with a young boy.

"Young Boy," CHCKLK explained in an email to The FADER, "is like a portal into understanding my outlook on life, which is always double-sided. It's the fork in the road that I always find myself revisiting. Do I want to continue to chase success, which could inevitably mean the erosion of my values and everything I stand for? Or do I skip on any chance of living comfortably, and fight for the beliefs of myself and others. It's like the old proverb: there are two wolves inside us all. Which one wins? The one you feed."