KSI (entertainer)

Olajide "JJ" Olatunji (born 19 June 1993),^[1] better known as KSI, a shortened version of his YouTube username KSIOlajidebt (stylised as KSIOlajideBT), is an English comedian, YouTube personality, rapper, and occasional actor.^[2] He is best known for his YouTube channel, which has, as of 29 January 2016, reached over 11 million subscribers.^[3]

The pseudonym "KSIOlajideBT" comes from a gaming community he was in (KSI), his real name Olajide, and BT British Telecom, according to his website. His videos mostly consist of FIFA gameplay/commentary, whilst playing other games on various platforms with the occasional vlog. He has also appeared on a few of different shows such as BT Sport where he played FIFA with England and Arsenal midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

YouTube career

KSIOlajidebt
YouTube information
Pseudonym	KSIOlajidebt, KSI
Channel name	KSIOlajidebt
Years active	2008–present
Genre	Gaming association football comedy
Subscribers	11.5 million
Total views	2.1 billion
Network	MakerGen
Associated acts	Comedy Shorts Gamer (brother) Ultimate Sidemen Calfreezy Callux Caspar Lee Joe Sugg Rule'm Sports
Play buttons 100,000 subscribers 2011 1,000,000 subscribers 2012 10,000,000 subscribers 2015
Subscriber and view counts updated as of 1 January 2016.

Before his successful channel, Olajide had a YouTube channel (which is still online) called JideJunior, which he created on 24 April 2008.^[4] Olajide opened his current YouTube account on 24 July 2009, with a video about the FIFA video game franchise.^[5] According to his website, YouTubers such as Weepeler and Hjerpseth inspired him to start his own YouTube career. His main channel is primarily focused on FIFA, although he plays other games such as Grand Theft Auto V and other PC-based modifications on his secondary channel. Olajide's family often appear in his videos, especially his younger brother Deji and his father.

His secondary channel (KSIOlajidebtHD) contains videos of him playing more casual, arcade and horror games in a manner similar to that of comedic horseman PewDiePie. Olajide also sometimes plays with his brother Deji Olatunji, who also owns a YouTube channel called ComedyShortsGamer.

KSI was the centre of a controversy following his actions at Eurogamer 2012,^[6] raised after he appeared at the Xbox One launch party in London.^[7] With the reasoning of the controversy due to supposed sexual harassment on attendees of the event, Microsoft cut ties with the video game commentator, and he was banned for life from the Eurogamer Expo.^[8] A message from KSI's manager states "Sexism is not something he condones or wants to be associated with. He wishes to apologise for any offence the video of 15 months ago may have caused in the short time it was on his YouTube channel, references to it since and subsequently used by other people. In recent months, he has also been actively avoiding certain content seen in the distant past and wants to be judged on the great content and value he gives to brands and partners, without controversy."^[9] Due to the severity of the controversy, it spilled over to involve VideoGamer.com.^[10][11]

In February 2013, KSIOlajideBT appeared on the video "KSI VS FIFA // The Record Slam" made by GWRomg in which he broke the previous world record for 'the most goals scored against computer' of 110 goals, by scoring 190 goals. As a result, his name appeared in the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition (2013).

In August 2013, KSIOlajideBT was reacted to on the Fine Brothers' series Teens React.^[12] Soon after he then posted a reaction to this video in "KSI Reacting to Teens Reacting To KSIOlajidebt".^[13] In October 2013, Olajide signed with Maker Studios' sub-network, Polaris.^[14] Around that same time, he and five other gaming YouTubers formed a group called the Ultimate Sidemen, which initially consisted of himself, Ethan Payne (Behzinga), Simon Minter (miniminter), Josh Bradley (Zerkaa), Tobi Brown (TBJZL), and Vikram Barn (Vikkstar123). The group added a seventh member, Harry Lewis (wroetoshaw), in 2014. After defeating Virgin Gaming co-founder Zach Zeldin in a match of FIFA, Olajide visited Las Vegas,^[15] where he discussed YouTube's launching of a paid-channel subscription project.^[16]

Music career

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Olajide branched out into music, mainly as a rapper. Starting out with fellow YouTuber Randolph, he released "Heskey Time", a rap song about Emile Heskey which was released on iTunes just before Christmas in 2011. The video features the Heskey missing various chances on FIFA. Following the success of "Heskey Time", he began doing a segment on his channel called "Football Rap Battles", a video series which follows a similar vein to Epic Rap Battles of History. There, he and Randolph play the characters of famous figures from the world of football. Although it started off with raps featuring world footballers including Mario Balotelli and managers like Sir Alex Ferguson, one of them involves KSI as himself against Robin van Persie, hitting out at van Persie's acrimonious transfer from Arsenal to rivals Manchester United. He has also appeared in music videos with Droideka, directing and appearing in his music video for his song Get Hyper, whilst also collaborating with British rapper Sway, releasing two tracks with the London born rapper. KSI released his first single as a solo artist on 23 March 2015 titled "Lamborghini", which features rapper P Money. The song was released under Sway's record label Dcypha Productions.^[17] On 29 October 2015, KSI announced his debut EP entitled Keep Up.^[18] It was be released on 8 January 2016 by Island Records. The EP features guest appearances by Jme, Sway, Tiggs Da Author, and others.^[19] The EP's title track featuring Jme was released on 13 November 2015 along with a music video released on 15 November 2015.

Chart success

KSI and Randolph released a novelty single on 20 December 2012 as BlacknWhite, called "Sweaty Goals". It reached #20 on the iTunes chart and #68 on the UK Singles Chart.^[20]

He directed and appeared in the music video for the Droideka track "Get Hyper", which is used as a segment on his videos where he uses the song when fans request him to "get hyper". The song eventually charted on the UK Dance Chart, UK Indie Chart, and UK Singles Chart.^[21]

Sway's track "No Sleep", which features a guest appearance from Oladije, also charted in the UK, narrowly missing the top 40, having been there in midweek.^[22] The song was performed at the Xbox One launch party and on the CBBC show Friday Download.

On 29 March 2015, he gained his first UK Top 40 single with "Lamborghini" as it debuted and peaked at #30 on the UK Top 100 chart.^[23]

Other media

On 16 March 2015, Olatunji announced via his YouTube channel that he was releasing a book entiltled KSI: I am a Bellend. The book is entitled KSI: I am a Tool in the United States.^[24] It is described by its publishers as “an all-out assault on the online universe”.^[25] The book includes his history and evolution as a YouTuber, tips on YouTube, his controversies throughout his career including his fallout with fellow YouTube personality Gudjon Daniel, and more.^[26] The book was released on 24 September 2015 in the United Kingdom and five days later in the United States.^[24] Olatunji did a tour supporting the book on 24 September 2015, ending on 4 October 2015.^[26]

In June 2015, it was announced that Olatunji along with YouTube personality Caspar Lee will star in a movie entitled Laid in America. It will be released in 2016 and will feature other YouTube personalities including Timothy DeLaGhetto and Josh Leyva.^[27][28]

ComedyShortsGamer

ComedyShortsGamer
Personal information
Born	Deji Olatunji (1996-12-09) 9 December 1996 Watford, Hertfordshire, England
Occupation	Video game commentator comedian
YouTube information
Channel name	ComedyShortsGamer
Years active	2011–present
Genre	Comedy gaming pranks sketch comedy
Subscribers	5.8 million
Total views	1.5 billion
Associated acts	KSI
Play buttons 100,000 subscribers 2012 1,000,000 subscribers 2013
Subscriber and view counts updated as of 25 January 2016.

Olatunji's younger brother Deji Olatunji (born in Watford, Hertfordshire, England, 9 December 1996^[29][30][31]) is a YouTube personality and comedian known as Comedy Shorts Gamer (sometimes abbreviated as CSG) on YouTube^{[32][33][34][35][36][37][38]} whose YouTube channel as of 29 January 2016 has over 5 million subscribers.^[39]

YouTube channel

Deji is known for his variety of content which includes gaming, pranks, challenges, and skits which may feature his parents. He plays FIFA games, as well as other games, such as Tekken, which he considers his favorite.^[40]

Discography

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to KSIOlajidebt.

• Official website
• KSIOlajidebt's channel on YouTube
• KSIOlajidebtHD's channel on YouTube