KSI (entertainer)

KSI

KSI performing at the O2 Academy Islington, 2016
Born Olajide William Olatunji
(1993-06-19) 19 June 1993
Watford, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom
Occupation
YouTube information
Pseudonym KSIOlajideBT, KSI
Channel KSIOlajidebt
Years active 2008–present
Genre
Subscribers 16+ million
Total views 1+ billion
Network MakerGen
Associated acts
Musical career
Genres
Years active 2008–present
Labels
Associated acts
Website ksiofficial.com

Olajide William "JJ" Olatunji (born 19 June 1993),[1][2] better known as KSI (shortened from his online alias KSIOlajideBT), is an English YouTube personality, rapper, comedian, and actor.[3][4] After establishing himself on his YouTube channel, which, as of July 2017, has reached over a billion video views and 16 million subscribers as the 29th most subscribed channel,[5] he has also become well known for his music. KSI released his debut EP Keep Up in 2016, reaching number one on the UK R&B Albums chart, as well as charting in several other countries.

Career

YouTube

KSI was the centre of a controversy following his actions at a Eurogamer event in 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]

In February 2013, KSI 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).[10]

In October 2013, KSI signed with Maker Studios' sub-network, Polaris.[11] On 19 October, he and five other gaming YouTubers formed a group called the Ultimate Sidemen (later shortened to just the 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, KSI visited Las Vegas,[12] where he discussed YouTube's launching of a paid-channel subscription project.[13]

In early 2017, KSI stopped uploading videos to YouTube, later releasing a video in July stating that he was unpleased with the direction YouTube seemed to be going. On 4 August 2017, KSI tweeted that he would be leaving the Sidemen group.[14]

Music

In 2011, KSI 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 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. On 29 October 2015, KSI announced his debut EP titled Keep Up. It was released on 8 January 2016 by Island Records. The EP's title track, featuring Jme, was released on 13 November 2015 alongside a music video released two days later. On 29 July 2016, KSI released "Friends with Benefits" featuring Dutch musical group MNDM.

Other media

On 16 March 2015, KSI announced via his YouTube channel that he was releasing a book titled KSI: I Am A Bellend. The book is titled KSI: I Am A Tool in the United States.[15] It is described by its publishers as “an all-out assault on the online universe”,[16] as the book includes his history and controversies on YouTube.[17] The book was released on 24 September 2015 in the United Kingdom and five days later in the United States.[15] KSI did a tour supporting the book on 24 September 2015, ending on 4 October 2015.[17]

In June 2015, it was announced that KSI, along with YouTube personality Caspar Lee, will star in a movie entitled Laid in America. It was released on 26 September 2016 and features other YouTube personalities including Timothy DeLaGhetto Josh Leyva.[18] and KSI's brother ComedyShortsGamer.

Personal life

JJ's younger brother, Deji Olatunji, is also a well known YouTube personality known as "ComedyShortsGamer".[19] JJ and Deji both ranked number one and two respectively as "UK’s Most Influential Youtube Creators" by Tubular Labs in 2015.[20][21] JJ is a supporter of football club Arsenal F.C. and has also appeared on several different shows including BT Sport where he played FIFA with England and Arsenal midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.[22]

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Recipient Result Ref.
2016 NME Award Vlogger of the Year KSI Won [23]

Discography

Extended plays

List of extended plays
Title Album details Peak chart positions
UK
[24]		 UK R&B
[25]		 CAN
[26]		 NZL
[27]		 SCO
[28]		 US R&B
[29]		 US Rap
[30]
Keep Up 13 1 63 23 15 19 14
Jump Around
  • Released: 28 October 2016
  • Label: Island
  • Formats: CD, digital download
 — — — — — — —
Space
  • Released: 30 June 2017[31]
  • Label: Self-released
  • Formats: CD, digital download
 — — — —[upper-alpha 1] 87 — —

Singles

As lead artist

List of singles as lead artist, with selected chart positions
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
UK
[24]		 UK
R&B
[33]		 AUS
[34]		 IRL
[35]		 SCO
[36]
"Lamborghini"
(featuring P Money)		 2015 30 7 — 61 28 N/A
"Keep Up"
(featuring Jme)		 45 7 78 90 40 Keep Up
"Goes Off"
(featuring Mista Silva)		 2016 — — — — — Jump Around
"Friends with Benefits"
(with MNDM)		 69 12 — — 43
"Jump Around"
(featuring Waka Flocka Flame)		 — — — — 77
"Creature" 2017 100 — — — — Space
List of singles as featured artist, with selected chart positions
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
UK
[37][38]
"Sweaty Goals"
(as BlacknWhite)		 2012 68 Non-album single
"No Sleep"
(Sway featuring KSI, Tigger Da Author, and Tubes)		 2013 44 Wake Up
"Christian Bale"
(Yogi featuring Casey Veggies, Knytro, Sway, KSI, and Raptor)		 2014 — Burial
"MAC-10 Flow"
(Sway featuring KSI)		 — Non-album single

Notes

  1. ↑ Space did not enter the NZ Top 40 Albums Chart, but peaked at number six on the NZ Heatseekers Albums Chart.[32]

References

  1. ↑ "KSI [SDMN] on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2015-11-25.
  2. ↑ Olatunji, Olajide (8 January 2017). "WTF HAVE YOU DONE?!". YouTube. Retrieved 20 January 2017. For those of you that don't know, my real name is Olajide William Olatunji; William being my English name.
  3. ↑ Guinness World Records 2016 Gamer's Edition - Page 61 "The fastest lap of Laguna Seca in GT 5(two players) is by Callum McGinley and Olajide Olatunji (both UK) on 8 August 2013."
  4. ↑ "This Is Your Chance To Ask KSI Anything As We Go In The Zone". MTV UK. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  5. ↑ "KSIOlajidebt - About". YouTube. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  6. ↑ Cordell, Ben (October 2012). "YouTube Celeb KSI Sexually Harasses Attendees At Expo". StickTwiddlers.
  7. ↑ Totilo, Stephen (6 October 2012). "Booth Babes Not The Only Embarrassment At Eurogamer Expo". Kotaku. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
  8. ↑ Schreier, Jason (23 November 2013). "YouTuber Says He Was Censored For Criticising Another YouTuber". Kotaku. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
  9. ↑ Yin-Poole, Wesley (23 November 2013). "YouTuber KSI dumped by Microsoft after Xbox One launch appearance". Eurogamer. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
  10. ↑ "GWR OMG: Watch KSI attempt FIFA 13 goals record in Arsenal v Tottenham showdown". Guinness World Records News. 4 February 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  11. ↑ Gutelle, Sam (29 October 2013). "Captain Sparklez, KSIOlajidebt, Ali-A Among New Polaris Gamers". Tubefilter. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
  12. ↑ C., Carl (13 February 2013). "KSIOLAJIDEBT VIDEO IN VEGAS FOR CHALLENGE SERIES!". Virgin Gaming. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
  13. ↑ "KSIOlajidebt and Ali-A on YouTube pay channel charging". BBC. 10 May 2013. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
  14. ↑ Kent, Mike (4 August 2017). "KSI Confirms Rumors Regarding His Involvement [With] The Sidemen". Dexerto. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  15. 1 2 Gutelle, Sam. "YouTube Star KSI’s New Book Flies Off The Shelves In Two Countries". Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  16. ↑ Ditum, Nathan. "Why it’s worth trying to understand KSI, YouTube’s most controversial star". NewStatesman. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  17. 1 2 "YouTubing 'bell-end' KSI: 'I'm a really nice guy'". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  18. ↑ "YouTube Stars KSI, Caspar Lee To Star In ‘Laid In America’ Feature Film". tubefilter. 5 June 2015. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
  19. ↑ "UK YouTube Star KSI Gets Roasted On Comedy Central". Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  20. ↑ "Two Nigerian Brothers, Olajide & Deji Olatunji Top UK’s Most Influential Youtube Creators". Information Nigeria. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  21. ↑ "Only a third of UK's top 10 most influential YouTuber's traffic originates in UK". The Drum. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  22. ↑ "Top Five: Celebrity Arsenal fans". Vavel. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  23. ↑ "NME Awards 2016 with Austin, Texas full winners list". NME. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  24. 1 2 "KSI : full Official Charts History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  25. ↑ "Official R&B Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  26. ↑ "KSI – Canadian Albums Chart history". Billboard. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  27. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – KSI – Keep Up". Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  28. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  29. ↑ "R&B/Hip Hop Albums : Week of January 30, 2016". Billboard. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  30. ↑ "Top Rap Albums : Week of January 30, 2016". Billboard. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  31. ↑ "Space – EP by KSI on iTunes". Apple Inc. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  32. ↑ "NZ Heatseekers Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 10 July 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  33. ↑
  34. ↑ Ryan, Gavin (16 January 2016). "ARIA Singles: Justin Bieber 'Love Yourself' Spends 6th Week at No 1". Noise11. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  35. ↑ "GFK Chart-Track". Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  36. ↑
  37. ↑ For "Sweaty Goals" – http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/28960/BLACKNWHITE/
  38. ↑ For "No Sleep" – http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/34145/SWAY/
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