People Are Praying For My Downfall” KSI In Conversation

He’s also a musician, as it happens, with a chart-topping album and a string of top-five bangers under his massive golden belt, including legit brilliant collabs with the likes of Lil Wayne, Rick Ross and Yungblood. 

And lucky old me, I had like an hour to chat to him about all that ahead of his new single ‘Thick Of It’ (out now, in fact).

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Hey man! What’s up in the wacky world of KSI today?

Just got back from training. My chef made me tapas, so I was eating away and forgot the time. Had to yeet myself upstairs. Got a bit of a food coma.

Loving ‘Thick Of It’, great tune. My ten-year-old is a huge fan of yours, it’s a big flex for him to have it before his mates. Is that a Chilli Peppers sample?

The producers slipped that in, it’s from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers song ‘Snow’. It’s sick they allowed us to do it. We worked on the lyrics and made it come together. Smashed it. I always wanted to do a song where I talk about my life, what’s going on, where I’m at and where I want to go. I’ve done a lot in the last ten years, so it’s nice to be able to incorporate that into a song. Bring the listeners up to speed.

I like how you smuggle in a sly mention of Prime too, couldn’t tell if that was mere wordplay or genius marketing. 

Ha, bit of both I think. 

The music world can be a snobby place, did you ever feel you weren’t taken seriously, as a YouTuber?

I’ve always faced resistance. Since 2016, 2017 when I was trying to break into music lots of people said I’d fail. They said I’d never make it – wrong background. No chance, they said. Now I’ve got accolades, the number one album. Proof is in the pudding. Pursue your dream, eventually it’ll come along. 

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What are some nice things people have said about your music?

I think a lot of musicians I’ve worked with are quite surprised because they just assume there’s a lot of people that do stuff for me. They don’t actually understand that I’m quite a hands-on guy. With lyrics, with the direction of the song. When I made that song ‘Don’t Play’ with Anne-Marie she loved the whole process. She thought it was incredible.

Any other big collabs on the horizon?

I’m happy to work with any artist. I like seeing how other artists manoeuvre, so I can learn from them. I’d love to do something with Billie Eilish, Camila Cabello, or Dave. I’m free flowing. I can always adapt. 

What’s a bigger rush, boxing or music?

One of the biggest highs is performing to a load of people. The energy, a crowd jumping around. That aura, that feeling is insane. Euphoric. Boxing, you train for weeks, and weeks, for one moment. Then you fight, and you win. When you get what you need to get from the fight, that’s euphoric too. It’s hard to say!

Boxing or music – which has the bigger dickheads?

Ha! Can I say both? In every single industry I’ve worked in, there’s dickheads. Either somebody who makes things difficult setting up a fight, or some critic who shits on my music. Or my music getting leaked. There’s dickheads everywhere I’m afraid. 

You’re a crazy busy guy, with several businesses and creative hustles on the go. What’s your productivity hack?

A huge part of it is my health. Training and exercising. I work out every day, just to get the endorphins going. Gives me energy for business, music, then chilling with the missus. It’s good to be busy. Keeps me excited.

It must be great being you, with all that money and success and legions of fans. But it must also be a nightmare, when social media turns on you. 

There are times when I ask myself why I’m on Twitter, or Reddit. It’s so easy just to scroll, and scroll. Get stuck in this loop, asking what I’m doing with my life. What have I done? You get depressed, you don’t want to do anything, Then you stop posting. A vicious cycle. The secret is never, ever take things to heart. 

Haters gonna hate, eh. 

I’m not a guy who shies away from criticism. I’ve made so many mistakes, and I’ve messed up so many times. But don’t take it seriously, because with Twitter… there’s a lot of angry miserable people, who hate the world, hate their situation and take it out on people like YouTubers, or celebrities. 

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Back in the day, I suppose, famous people never even heard from their haters.  But whenever somebody talks shit about you, you get a notification, right?

I hear everything, I see everything. That’s how it goes. It’s the name of the game. I have so many people praying for my downfall. 

Your new single ‘Thick of It’ is about exactly that, surely?

That’s one of the reasons I made the song, yeah. Just me pushing out what’s on my mind, what I’ve been going through. Another new song, ‘Low’, I wrote while I was in quite a dark place. But making the song relieves the burden, makes me feel better. 

Good luck with the tunes, hope to catch you live at some point. I saw some footage of you, from just before you played Reading Festival the other year. You looked proper nervous. 

It was the first time I’d done my thing in front of so many people. I mean, millions of people watch me on YouTube all the time. But that many people – I think it was maybe sixty thousand? – standing right there watching me perform. The mind cannot comprehend that many people. It’s a mind fuck.