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Born in Stockholm and growing up in the city's Södermalm district, Yung Lean began to attract public attention in 2013 when the music video for his track "Ginseng Strip 2002" went viral, succeeding over 2 million views on YouTube.[2][4][5][6] He performs and records with the 'Sad Boys' — beatmakers/producers Yung Sherman and Yung Gud.[3][7][8]

Yung Lean has been controversial for his 'slack' rapping style. XXL magazine included him in their 2014 list of "15 European Rappers You Should Know".[4] Fact magazine viewed the Unknown Death 2002 mixtape as "a logical continuation of Clams Casino and Beautiful Lou's innovative techniques, emerging with thick, melancholy numbers that drip with a rare and earnest allure", while Vibe included it in their "The 10 Most Overlooked Debut Rap Mixtapes of 2013", describing it as "a natural progression from the freely associative, often nonsensical rhymes of Lil' B with a keener sense of melody".[9][10]

Yung Lean is well known for his wearing of bucket hats.[11] Vice claimed that "Yung Lean Is Going to Do Bucket Hats Like Mac Miller Did the Snapback" in an article of the same name.[12] His lyrics often focus on video games, drugs, and products such as Arizona Iced Tea, Gatorade and various clothing brands such as Nike, The North Face and Billionaire Boys Club.

In 2013, Yung Lean and Sad Boys, toured through Europe.

In 2013, Fact published an article titled "Rise of the Sad Boys: from Kompakt to Yung Lean, a history of how electronic musicians have worn their sadness on their sleeves", which claimed that "[Yung Lean]'s mixtape Unknown Death 2002 is the epitome of sad rap".[13]

In 2013, Acclaim Magazine had Yung Lean as their guest for a Q&A "smalltalk" segment, where they asked him about a wide variety of miscellaneous things, including his favourite hangover cure and his desktop wallpaper.[14]

Consequence of Sound placed "Ginseng Strip 2002", Yung Lean’s song off of the Lavender EP, at number 44 on their "Top 50 Songs of 2013".[15]

In 2014, Yung Lean and Sad Boys embarked on the White Marble Tour: North America, playing in 24 cities across Europe. Shortly after the conclusion of this tour Sad Boys announced a further Black Marble Tour: North America which would include several performances in cities across North America and Canada. The first of these shows took place in July at the Webster Hall in New York City, and was well received by writers for publications such as XXL, and The New York Times.[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]

Yung Lean starred on Studio PSL in May 2014.[25]

Yung Lean was one of five final nominees for the 2014 P3 Guld in the Hip Hop/Soul category.[26]

Yung Lean released his debut full-length album Unknown Memory on 23 September 2014.[