TBJZL | ||||||||||
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![]() Brown in 2019 | ||||||||||
Personal information | ||||||||||
Born | Tobit John Brown 8 April 1993[1][2] Hackney, London, England[1] | |||||||||
Education | Coventry University (BSc) | |||||||||
Occupations | ||||||||||
YouTube information | ||||||||||
Also known as | Tobjizzle, Tobi Lerone[3] | |||||||||
Channel | ||||||||||
Years active | 2011–present | |||||||||
Genres |
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Subscribers | 6.9 million (combined)[4][5] | |||||||||
Total views | 744 million (combined)[4][5] | |||||||||
Associated acts | Sidemen | |||||||||
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Last updated: 5 April 2023 |
Tobit John "Tobi" Brown (born 8 April 1993), better known as TBJZL, is an English YouTuber, streamer, and Internet personality. He is also a member and co-founder of the British YouTube group known as the Sidemen.[6] He is the co-owner of XIX Vodka, Sidemen Clothing, restaurant chain Sides, and cereal brand Best Breakfasts.
In 2019, Brown was listed as the 38th most influential online creator in the United Kingdom by The Sunday Times.[6] As of December 2022, his main YouTube channel had over 4.9 million subscribers and 524 million video views.[4] Brown has also released music mononymously, and in 2020, he released his debut single "Destined for Greatness", which peaked at number 31 on the UK Singles Chart and number 33 on the Irish Singles Chart.
Early life
Tobit John Brown was born on 8 April 1993 in Hackney, London, to a working-class family of Nigerian heritage.[1] He attended St. Dominic's Catholic Primary School from 1997 until 2004, and then attended Bexley Grammar School, where he met future fellow Sidemen member Josh Bradley.[1] Brown later completed an honours degree in computing at Coventry University.[1]
YouTube career
Brown joined YouTube in 2011 while at university after he saw Josh gaining traction on the platform and then decided to become a full-time YouTuber after university.[1][4] He uploads video game commentaries, most notably of the FIFA and NBA 2K video game series, as well as football challenges, vlogs, and comedy-style videos.[6][7][8]
On 19 October 2013, Brown and four other British YouTubers formed the entertainment collective Ultimate Sidemen, later shortened to simply Sidemen. Since 2014, the group has consisted of seven British YouTubers: Vik Barn (Vikkstar123), Josh Bradley (Zerkaa), Harry Lewis (W2S), Simon Minter (Miniminter), JJ Olatunji (KSI), Ethan Payne (Behzinga), and Tobi Brown (TBJZL).[9] The group produces online videos, most often consisting of challenges, sketches, and video-game commentary, as well as selling exclusive Sidemen merchandise.[10][11]
In September 2019, Brown was listed as the 38th most influential online creator in the United Kingdom by The Sunday Times.[6]
Music career
In December 2019, Brown released "The Gift" with the rest of the Sidemen, reaching number 77 on the UK Singles Chart.[12][13]
Brown released his debut single, "Destined for Greatness", with his brother Manny featuring his sister Janellé on 7 February 2020. The song charted at number 31 on the UK Singles Chart, making it Brown's first UK top 40 single.[3][14] Elsewhere, "Destined for Greatness" debuted at number 18 in New Zealand and on the Scottish Singles Chart,[15][16] and peaked at number 33 on the Irish Singles Chart.[17] He later featured in a remix of his fellow Sidemen member KSI's song "Wake Up Call" by producer Yoshi with American rapper Trippie Redd and British rapper P Money, which was released on 6 March 2020.[18]
Brown was featured on "This Year" by P Money and producer Silencer, which was released on 19 March 2021.[19] Brown released his second single, "Rhythm & Vibes", also with his brother Manny, on 20 August 2021.[20][21]
In March 2022, he featured in rapper DTG's song "Just Do It".[22] On 5 December 2022, Brown, KSI, and Vikkstar123 released a Christmas-themed single titled "Christmas Drillings" under the Sidemen banner featuring British rapper Jme, which charted at number 3 in the UK.[23][24]
Senior career* | |||
---|---|---|---|
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2023– | Fisher | 1 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 12:04, 28 April 2023 |
Football career
In April 2023, Brown signed for SCEFL Premier Division club Fisher, featuring on the club's final day of the season.[25]
Other ventures
In June 2018, Brown founded a streetwear brand called ILLVZN, with the official launch in February 2019.[26][27]
Personal life
Brown is a supporter of Manchester United F.C. and plays Sunday league football for Under The Radar FC, a team formed by his brother and fellow YouTuber Manny Brown.[6][28][29] He has spoken out on racism within football with Sky Sports News.[28] He is a Christian.
Filmography
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2024 | The Sidemen Story | Himself | Documentary | [30] |
Year | Title | Role | Network | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | The Sidemen Experience | Himself | Comedy Central UK | Main role; 5 episodes | [31] |
2017 | YouTube Rewind | YouTube | Episode: "The Shape of 2017" | [32] | |
2018 | The Sidemen Show | YouTube Premium | Main role; 7 episodes | [33] | |
2020 | Live Show From Lausanne 2020 | Olympic Channel | Guest; 1 episode | [34] | |
How To Be Behzinga | YouTube | Guest; 3 episodes | [35] | ||
2024 | The Chase: Sidemen Edition | Special Spin-Off Episode | [36] | ||
Inside | Host | Reality Show created by the Sidemen | [37] |
Year | Title | Artist(s) | Role | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2015 | "Lamborghini" | KSI feat. P Money | Himself | [38] |
"Man Don't Care" | Jme feat. Giggs | [39] | ||
"Test Me" | Jme | [40] | ||
2019 | "Real Name" | KSI, Randolph, Talia Mar | Pastor / EMT | [41] |
2022 | "Don't Lie" | A1 x J1 feat. Nemzzz | Himself | [42] |
Discography
Singles
As lead artist
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK [13] |
UK R&B [43] |
UK Ind. [44] |
IRE [45] |
NZ Hot [16] |
SCO [15] | ||||||||
"Destined for Greatness"[46] (with Manny featuring Janellé) |
2020 | 31 | 12 | 3 | 33 | 18 | 18 | Non-album singles | |||||
"Rhythm & Vibes"[21] (with Manny) |
2021 | 47 | 16 | 6 | 59 | — | — | ||||||
"Just Do It"[47] (with DTG) |
2022 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||
"Keeper"[48] (with Manny) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||
"I Wanna" (with Not3s)[49] |
2023 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||
"Where We Go" (with Day1 and BLESSED)[50] |
2024 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |
As a featured artist
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK [51] |
UK R&B [52] |
UK Ind. [53] |
NZ Hot [54] |
SCO [55] | |||||||||
"Wake Up Call (Yoshi Remix)"[56] (KSI featuring Trippie Redd, Tobi and P Money) |
2020 | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album remix | ||||||
"This Year"[57] (P Money and Silencer featuring Tobi) |
2021 | — | — | — | — | — | Untraditional | ||||||
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |
Other charted songs
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK [58] |
UK R&B [59] |
UK Ind. [60] |
NZ Hot [61] |
SCO [62] |
IRE[63] | ||||
"The Gift"[12] (as part of Sidemen featuring S-X) |
2019 | 77 | 40 | 11 | 27 | 26 | — | Non-album singles | |
"Christmas Drillings" (as part of Sidemen featuring Jme) |
2022 | 3 | — | 4 | 7 | — | 25 | ||
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |
Awards and nominations
Year | Award | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2017 | British Book Awards | Non-Fiction: Lifestyle Book of the Year | "Sidemen: The Book" (shared with the Sidemen) | Nominated | [64] |
2019 | Shorty Awards | Best YouTube Ensemble | Himself (shared with the Sidemen) | Nominated | [65] |
References
- ^ a b c d e f The Sidemen (18 October 2016). Sidemen: The Book. Coronet Books. pp. 27–31. ISBN 978-1473648166.
- ^ @Tobjizzle (8 April 2019). "Thank you for all the birthday messages so far you legends. Appreciate each and every one of you. Love and blessings" (Tweet). Retrieved 29 December 2020 – via Twitter.
- ^ a b "Artist: Tobi & Manny ft. Janelle". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
- ^ a b c d See:
- "TBJZL's YouTube Stats". Social Blade. Archived from the original on 28 September 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
- "TBJZLPlays's YouTube Stats". Social Blade. Archived from the original on 28 September 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
- "TBJZLClips's YouTube Stats". Social Blade. Archived from the original on 28 September 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
- ^ a b "About TBJZL". YouTube.
- ^ a b c d e "The Sunday Times Influencer List 2019: meet the UK's top 100". The Sunday Times. 8 September 2019. Archived from the original on 24 February 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
- ^ Southern, Lucinda (18 August 2016). "How The Sun's fantasy football site plans to make money on platforms". Digiday. Archived from the original on 31 December 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
- ^ "Perfecting Your My Player Build in NBA 2K21 with TBJZL". The Escapist. 6 October 2020. Archived from the original on 31 December 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
- ^ Fogarty, Paul (17 September 2019). "YouTube: Get to know all seven Sidemen members". HITC. Archived from the original on 29 October 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
- ^ Andrews, Farah. "Insomnia Dubai: YouTube stars Sidemen coming to gaming convention". The National. Archived from the original on 27 October 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- ^ "YouTube stars The Sidemen at Insomnia Dubai Gaming Festival". Gulf News. 10 September 2019. Archived from the original on 27 October 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- ^ a b "The Gift – Single by Sidemen". Apple Music. 15 December 2019. Archived from the original on 12 January 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
- ^ a b Peak positions for Tobi's singles in the UK:
- "Artist: Tobi & Manny ft. Janelle". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
- "Artist: Tobi & Manny". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 7 September 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
- ^ Ainsley, Helen (14 February 2020). "The Weeknd claims second week at Number 1 with Blinding Lights". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 30 December 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
- ^ a b Peak positions for Tobi's singles in Scotland:
- "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100 (14 February 2020 – 20 February 2020)". Official Charts Company. 20 February 2020. Archived from the original on 30 December 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
- ^ a b Peak positions for Tobi's singles in New Zealand:
- "New Zealand Hot Singles Chart (17 February 2020)". Recorded Music NZ. 17 February 2020. Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
- ^ White, Jack (21 February 2020). "Billie Eilish scores the biggest opening week of 2020 so far and debuts at Irish Singles Number 1 with Bond theme No Time To Die". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 31 December 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
- ^ Bikolo, Gloria (6 March 2020). "KSI & Trippie Redd Call On P Money & Tobi For "Wake Up Call" Remix". GRM Daily. Archived from the original on 30 December 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
- ^ W., Courtney (18 March 2021). "P Money & Tobi Join Forces On Hard Silencer-Produced Collab "This Year"". GRM Daily. Archived from the original on 20 March 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
- ^ "Ed Sheeran goes straight to the top of the Official Trending Chart with Visiting Hours". Official Charts Company. 24 August 2021. Archived from the original on 25 August 2021. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
- ^ a b "Rhythm & Vibes by Tobi & Manny". Apple Music. 20 August 2021. Archived from the original on 20 August 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ W., Courtney (18 March 2022). "Premiere: DTG & Tobi Say "Just Do It" In Fun New Visuals". GRM Daily. Archived from the original on 20 March 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
- ^ Ben Mundy, Sam Harris (22 December 2022). "Christmas number one: Sidemen and JME's quest for top spot". BBC. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
- ^ "CHRISTMAS DRILLINGS". Official Charts. 15 December 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
- ^ "Tobi Teams Up With The Fish". www.fisherfc.org. 20 April 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
- ^ "Sidemen star Tobi continues to support the O's with his brand, ILLVZN". Leyton Orient F.C. 2 December 2021. Archived from the original on 2 December 2021. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
- ^ Brown, Tobi (16 February 2019). Sidemen React To My New Clothing Line!!!! (Video). Retrieved 30 December 2020 – via YouTube.
- ^ a b "Racism still an issue in grassroots football, says Manny Brown". Sky Sports News. 27 March 2019. Archived from the original on 30 December 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
- ^ Reid, Alex (28 August 2020). "Ranking The UK's Biggest And Best YouTube Football Teams". SPORTbible. Archived from the original on 31 December 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
- ^ Shah, Furvah (2 February 2024). "Sidemen's Netflix documentary: Release date, trailer, cast and more". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
- ^ "Who Are The Sidemen? – The Sidemen Experience". ComedyCentral.co.uk. October 2014. Archived from the original on 19 January 2019. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
- ^ "YouTube Rewind: The Shape of 2017". Retrieved 4 April 2024 – via YouTube.
- ^ White, Peter (2 June 2018). "'The Sidemen Show': YouTube Debuts First Trailer & Dates Premium Reality Challenge Format". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 20 November 2019. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
- ^ "Olympic Channel Live Show – Ways to relive the fun from Lausanne 2020". Olympic Channel. 10 January 2020. Archived from the original on 30 December 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
- ^ "How To Be Behzinga". YouTube. October 2020. Archived from the original on 29 June 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "ITV's The Chase to face major format shake-up for epic special episode". EXPRESS.co.uk. 10 February 2024. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
- ^ Copson, Josie. "YouTube gameshow with staggering £1,000,000 prize fund rivals traditional TV". Metro. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
- ^ "KSI - Lamborghini (Explicit) ft. P Money". Retrieved 14 March 2024 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Man Don't Care - Jme ft Giggs". Retrieved 14 March 2024 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Jme - Test Me". Retrieved 14 March 2024 – via YouTube.
- ^ "REAL NAME - Randolph & KSI ft Talia Mar". Retrieved 15 February 2024 – via YouTube.
- ^ "A1 x J1 - Don't Lie (Official Video) ft. Nemzzz". Retrieved 17 March 2024 – via YouTube.
- ^ Peak positions for Tobi's singles on the UK Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart:
- "Official Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart Top 40 (21 February 2020 – 27 February 2020)". Official Charts Company. 27 February 2020. Archived from the original on 30 December 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
- "Official Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart Top 40 (27 August 2021 – 02 September 2021)". Official Charts Company. 7 September 2021. Archived from the original on 7 September 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
- ^ Peak positions for Tobi's singles on the UK Independent Singles Chart:
- "Official Independent Singles Chart Top 50 (21 February 2020 – 27 February 2020)". Official Charts Company. 27 February 2020. Archived from the original on 30 December 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
- "Official Independent Singles Chart Top 50 (27 August 2021 – 02 September 2021)". Official Charts Company. 7 September 2021. Archived from the original on 7 September 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
- ^ Peak positions for Tobi's singles in Ireland:
- "Official Irish Singles Chart Top 50 (21 February 2020 – 27 February 2020)". Official Charts Company. 27 February 2020. Archived from the original on 30 December 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
- "Irish Charts: Week 34 2021 – Week Ending 27 Aug 2021". Irish Recorded Music Association. 27 August 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
- ^ "Destined For Greatness (feat. Janellé) – Single by Tobi & Manny". Apple Music. 7 February 2020. Archived from the original on 30 December 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
- ^ "Just Do It – Single by DTG and Tobi". Apple Music. 18 March 2022. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Keeper – Single by Tobi & Manny". Apple Music. 19 August 2022. Archived from the original on 18 September 2022. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
- ^ "I Wanna - Song by Tobi and Not3s". Apple Music. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
- ^ "Where We Go by Tobi, Day1 and BLESSED on Spotify". 2 May 2024. Retrieved 6 May 2024 – via Spotify.
- ^ "Artist: Sidemen". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 20 December 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
- ^ "Official Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart Top 40 (20 December 2019 – 26 December 2019)". Official Charts Company. 26 December 2019. Archived from the original on 30 December 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
- ^ "Official Independent Singles Chart Top 50 (20 December 2019 – 26 December 2019)". Official Charts Company. 26 December 2019. Archived from the original on 30 December 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
- ^ "New Zealand Hot Singles Chart (23 December 2019)". Recorded Music NZ. 23 December 2019. Archived from the original on 30 January 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
- ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100 (20 December 2019 – 26 December 2019)". Official Charts Company. 26 December 2019. Archived from the original on 30 December 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
- ^ "Wake Up Call (feat. Trippie Redd, Tobi & P Money) [Yoshi Remix] – Single by KSI". Apple Music. 6 March 2020. Archived from the original on 30 December 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
- ^ "This Year (feat. Tobi) – Single by P Money & Silencer". Apple Music. 19 March 2021. Archived from the original on 20 March 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
- ^ "UK Singles Chart". Official Charts Company. 26 December 2019. Archived from the original on 20 December 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
- ^ "UK R&B Singles Chart". Official Charts Company. 26 December 2019.
- ^ "UK Independent Singles Chart". Official Charts Company. 26 December 2019.
- ^ "New Zealand Hot Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 23 December 2019. Archived from the original on 20 December 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
- ^ "Scottish Singles Chart". Official Charts Company. 26 December 2019.
- ^ "IRMA – Irish Charts". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
- ^ "Hachette and Penguin Random House lead British Book Awards Books of the Year shortlists". The Bookseller. 15 March 2017. Archived from the original on 14 January 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
- ^ "11th Annual Influencer Nominees". Shorty Awards. 28 January 2019. Archived from the original on 31 January 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
External links
- TBJZL's channel on YouTube
- TBJZL at IMDb