EXCLUSIVE: KSI’s Keys To YouTube & Music Supremacy, Yungblud Collab, The Black Experience & New Album ‘All Over The Place’

KSI, a.k.a JJ Olatunji, is a prime example of how YouTubers can parlay their skills and success to the wider entertainment sphere — from chart-topping hip-hop albums and major collaborations to successful boxing endeavours and variety shows.

Olatunji’s debut album, Dissimulation, debuted at no. 1 on multiple charts in 2020 and was the U.K.’s highest-selling debut album by a British artist. Ahead of the release of his sophomore effort, All Over the Place, on July 16, KSI talks to ET Canada about his major collaborations, YouTube juggling act, experiences as a Black man in entertainment and the impending arrival of “The KSI Show”.

KSI teamed up with Yungblud and Polo G for “Patience”, the third single off his upcoming album. During their recording session, Yungblud tore off his shirt.

“What’s going through my mind? This guy is different,” KSI laughs. “This guy is not like any other rappers I’ve been with. I know if he had done that in front of certain rappers, they would have been like, ‘I’m off. I ain’t staying for this.’ I just thought that was typical Dom, isn’t it? That’s just how he is.”

KSI’s solo single “Holiday” peaked at number two on charts in the U.K. and Ireland, but he also secured big-time collaborations across his first two albums. Olatunji has teamed with heavy-hitters like Anne-Marie, Future, Craig David and 21 Savage, but there are two that really had KSI feeling like he’d arrived.

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“Definitely the one with Rick Ross and Lil Baby,” KSI says of “Down Like That” from his debut album. “Keep in mind, this happened after the [second Logan Paul] fight. I released a song with the music video. It was surreal to be with them, let alone to have a song with them. It was insane. Insane.”

Olatunji, 28, has amassed 36.3 million subscribers across his two YouTube channels, not to mention 12.3 million on the collaborative Sidemen channel. For KSI, YouTube will likely be the foundation of his empire no matter how much success he finds in other endeavours.

“I think you have to be smart with it. I don’t think you can just randomly decide, ‘I’m going to do music now.’ And if you decide to do that, you have to maintain posting to YouTube,” he explains. “The only reason you’ve gotten to where you’ve gotten is because of YouTube.”

“For you to just forget about that, for me, it doesn’t sit right,” he continues. “I’ve been putting little bits of my music into my YouTube videos so it doesn’t feel out of the ordinary when I do want to do music… This is a logical next step.”

“Maybe I’m just loyal,” he laughs. “It’s the reason I am the person I am today. And I still enjoy it… It’s been the core. I see YouTube as the core of my success. For me to stop doing YouTube, chances are it will kill everything else that I try to do. Or eventually, it will die out.”

KSI’s existing fanbase naturally gives him a leg-up in the music industry, but he says the most important cross-over asset is Olatunji’s ability to market himself.

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“Just being able to market myself,” he shares. “I feel like a lot of musicians don’t know how to market themselves. They don’t know how to engage with an audience who want to listen to their music. I think a lot of musicians struggle to do that.”

“That’s why they might be making the best music in the world, but no one is going to be able to listen to it,” KSI adds. “No one is going to be able to hear it because they don’t know how to listen to it. It hasn’t been marketed well enough.”

When asked which song from All Over the Place will surprise fans the most, KSI points to “Number 2”.

“The one with 21 Savage and Future. That is a low-key banger that no one is expecting,” he assures. “When they listen to it, they’ll be like, ‘Yeah, this is crazy!’”

KSI also touches on his experiences as a Black man in the entertainment industry and how much harder he has to work to close the gap.

“I think it’s so ingrained in the system that it’s going to be hard to undo what’s already done,” he says. “I definitely feel as a Black guy you just have to work harder. Even as a gay man or someone who is trans, etc. You have to do more to show that you have a case to be a person in society.”

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“It is what it is. As long as there are people who are making a difference and trying to break the stigma and make a world that is more accepting, I think it should be okay,” KSI adds. “I was born in a time that was very different from now. I think Black people, especially now, are living in a world — don’t get it twisted, it’s not great but it’s better than it was before. I feel as a world, or as a society, we’re slowly improving.”

KSI announced a groundbreaking digital live event on Monday titled “The KSI Show”, set for July 17.

“This is arguably one of the biggest in the world online coming out this year. I 100 per cent guarantee that it will blow your mind. I bring YouTube, I bring mainstream, I bring the Internet, I combine it all together. I put boxing in that. I created content for people to see.”

“I have musical special guests, I have mainstream special guests. I have special guests that you wouldn’t even expect,” he continues. “It’s not like Dua Lipa’s musical show or Justin Bieber’s musical show. It’s something way more. Something way more that’s never been done before.”

All Over the Place drops July 16 through RMC and BMG. It boasts top three songs “Really Love” featuring Craig David and Digital Farm Animals, “Don’t Play” with Anne-Marie and “Holiday”. “The KSI” show premieres the next day.

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