KSI: The English Phenomenon Now Gaining Global Recognition

When a 14-year-old JJ Olatunji started making videos on YouTube in early 2008, he never thought that it would become a career, more, a way to relax after coming home from a difficult day at school. However, JJ, now known as KSI, has over the course of the past fourteen years, accumulated over fifty million subscribers on Youtube and become one of the most influential celebrities in the UK. He has also dipped his toes into music, drinks, movies, and food as he expands the name KSI to a global brand. Despite this, he has struggled to make an impact in the U.S., even after he beat one of the biggest American influencers, Logan Paul, in a Los Angeles boxing match, he still was not seen as a major influencer. Yet, the man he beat that day could be the man who truly helps him break America, in a strange, yet effective way. 

Born in Watford, a suburb of London, in 1993, JJ began as an introverted child before starting a gaming channel in 2008 called “Jide Junior.” In July of 2009, he changed the name of the channel to KSI, which stands for Knowledge, Strength, Integrity. These words have become a meme of sorts as fans expose KSI in situations in which he shows none of these traits; however, he has almost never taken offense to anything they have said, one of the major reasons he became such a big influencer. Uploading videos playing games such as Fifa, he was soon gaining hundreds of thousands of followers, eventually leading to him dropping out of high school and pursuing his YouTube career. His parents were originally unsupportive of the idea, however, after the channel reached one million subscribers, one of only twenty channels to have done so at that time, seeing how much he enjoyed it, they grew to support him and even appeared in a few videos. 

The KSI channel has gone on to reach twenty-three million subscribers and KSI’s second channel, JJ Olatunji, has just reached the 14.5 million subscribers mark after ten years in existence. In 2013, JJ helped form the group now known as the Sidemen, who have reached over twenty million subscribers across four channels. The Sidemen have also opened their own clothing business known as “Sidemen Clothing,” their own video platform called “Side+,” a vodka company known as “XIX Vodka” and a food chain known simply as, “Sides.” KSI also dropped his first solo album in the summer of 2020, with it debuting at number two in the UK charts along with charting in fifteen other countries. Then, just over a year later, he would release his second album, All Over The Place, with features from massive artists such as Lil Durk, Future, 21 Savage, and Lil Wayne. Due to this great work, two of his songs, “Holiday” and “Don’t Play,” have been nominated for song of the year at the Brits, the British equivalent of the Grammys; however, he is still yet to gain any musical recognition in America.

In late December 2021, KSI posted a cryptic post about a possible third fight with Logan Paul. Over ten thousand people tuned into the Instagram live, as they all eagerly awaited what they believed to be the announcement of a third fight. However, it turned out that Paul and Olatunji would not be fighting again, instead, they were becoming business partners. They had formed a new sports drink company known as, “Prime Hydration,” and within hours of it being released across the U.S. and UK, it was already sold out, with customers demanding a second drop. Inside the space of two weeks, Prime Hydration had gone from not even a speck of dust to being valued at 150 to 200 million dollars. The two influencers revealed they wanted to challenge the biggest energy companies across the globe such as Pepsi, Sprite, and even Coca-Cola. 

As he enters his fourteenth year as an influencer, who knows what could be in store for KSI this year? Can he continue to break records with the Sidemen and his own channels? Will Prime Hydration really challenge any of the major drink companies or will it falter to deceive? Can he shock the world by winning a Brit? Or will it just be a battle for him to just not be canceled in this modern-day social media? By the end of the year will he be known worldwide? Or will he have faded back into the background he may never get back out of? 

By Luke Birch