KSI
A YouTube personality who evolved into a rap star, KSI – Olajide ‘JJ’ Olatunji – was the biggest-selling UK breakthrough of 2020 with his debut LP Dissimulation, alongside hits with Craig David, Tion Wayne and the
latest smash with Anne-Marie. After proving himself as an artist, he now aims to shake up the industry with his label, The Online Takeover. Here, with manager Mams Taylor and BMG’s Gemma Reilly-Hammond, KSI shares his plan for new acts, discusses album number two and reveals how he won over a sceptical music business...
BY ANDRE PAINE PHOTOS: STEPHANIE SIAN SMITH she’s on ACR!”
While the US singer’s No.1 Drivers License may have so far outperformed Don’t Play, Anne-Marie’s single featuring KSI and Digital Farm Animals marks a strong start to 2021 for the rapper, YouTuber and sometime boxer. Peaking at No.2 a few days after our phone call amidst the latest London lockdown, the co-write is now his biggest chart hit to date.
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musicweek.com
Don’t Play follows a pair of big features for KSI (real name Olajide ‘JJ’ Olatunji) last year. Lighter (Atlantic) with Nathan Dawe peaked at No.3 (631,854 sales – Official Charts Company), while S1mba’s Loose (Parlophone) made No.14 (127,172 sales). When KSI’s manager Mams Taylor, owner of Proper Loud, dials in on a video call from LA, he casually mentions that his client is now being offered “hundreds of thousands to jump on a song”. That’s good going for an artist who wasn’t taken entirely seriously in 2019, when he signed with BMG. He now has 6,784,654 monthly listeners on Spotify. Hailing from Watford and building his audience as a teenager with YouTube gaming commentaries, KSI evolved into a rapper in 2015 (debut single Lamborghini feat. P Money has 118 million YouTube views). But while he impacted the charts, his reputation as an artist wasn’t exactly burnished by that early material.
Play time: KSI, Anne-Marie and Digital Farm Animals
s you might expect from the biggest breakthrough artist of 2020, KSI is taking in the latest Midweek chart sales when Music Week catches up with him to talk about his new plans for the year ahead. “Olivia Rodrigo killed it,” he laughs. “Will we get to No.1? Maybe in a month and a half when
“The quality of the music just wasn’t where it’s at now,” says Taylor, who reveals that Olatunji has used the pandemic as an opportunity to train every week with a vocal coach.
“There are numerous examples of YouTubers, athletes and actors that try their hand at music, and then they get discouraged or disheartened,” he adds. “But JJ has been doing music for over 10 years. Once he gained the confidence and realised that, actually, he is talented and can cultivate that talent with a lot of hard work, he was very encouraged. It’s definitely his number one priority and I’m very proud of him for that. It’s undeniable that he’s shaken some of those stigmas off now.” Our interview with Olatunji has been set up to exclusively announce the launch of his label, The Online Takeover, which he first hinted at in last year’s Music Week cover feature. But it’s also important to underline his achievements as an artist in the last eight months. Released in May 2020, KSI’s debut album Dissimulation (RBC/BMG) peaked at No.2 (behind The 1975) and has sales to date of 86,179, making it 2020’s biggest-selling UK debut. Last year, he scored seven Top 10 singles including collaborations with Rick Ross, Trippie Redd and Tion Wayne. “I’ve been thrust into the music scene,” says Olatunji. “But people are starting to respect the music that I’m putting out. I’m constantly hitting the industry with all these songs, I keep going Top 5, Top 10, and staying there – these are not songs that drop out immediately the next week. They have a lot of staying power – that says a lot about the music that I’m putting out.” Gemma Reilly-Hammond, VP, marketing at BMG UK and joint head of the frontline label, predicts a “big year for KSI” in 2021. “KSI’s breakthrough success in 2020 was exceptional and thoroughly deserved,” she says. “He is an incredibly hard-working,
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