KSI

Olajide Olayinka Williams "JJ" Olatunji (born 19 June 1993), known professionally as KSI, is an English Influencer, professional boxer, and musician.

He is the CEO of Misfits Boxing and the co-owner of Prime Hydration, XIX Vodka, Sidemen Clothing, restaurant chain Sides and cereal brand Best Breakfasts.

Olajide Olayinka Williams Olatunji was born on 19 June 1993 in London and was raised in Watford, Hertfordshire.

His father, Olajide Olatunji, was born in Ibadan, Nigeria.

His mother, Olayinka Olatunji (née Atinuke), is from Islington, London.

He and his parents are from the Yoruba ethnic group.

He was educated at Berkhamsted School in Berkhamsted, where he met future collaborator and Sidemen member Simon Minter.

KSI's younger brother, Deji Olatunji, is also a YouTuber and professional boxer.

KSI registered his first account on YouTube under the username "JideJunior" in 2008 while in his early teens.

He registered his main YouTube channel in 2009 and has since built a following posting gaming commentary videos of the FIFA video game series.

His content later diversified to include vlog and comedy-style videos.

As of October 2022, he has over 41 million subscribers and over 10 billion video views across his three YouTube channels.

He registered his current YouTube account on 24 July 2009 under the name KSI Olajide BT, where he uploaded gaming–commentary videos of the FIFA video game series from his bedroom at his parents' house in Watford.

"KSI" stands for Knowledge Strength Integrity.

He dropped out of sixth form college to pursue his YouTube career once he was earning steady monthly revenue from his uploads.

KSI later uploaded more vlog-style content and played a variety of games and in 2012, the channel reached a million subscribers.

KSI's rise to fame was not without controversy, with him being widely criticised for his self-described 'rape-face', a recurring joke on his channel during 2012 and 2013.

He was the centre of a controversy following third-party allegations of sexual harassment of female staff at a Eurogamer event in 2012, that went so far as accusing him of sexually assaulting a spokesmodel Brandy Brewer, despite her tweeting that she consented to the motorboat, writing, "it's called comedy……relax".

As a result, Microsoft cut ties with KSI and he was banned from Eurogamer events.

KSI subsequently apologised "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" and stated his desire to move on from the incident and "be judged on the great content and value he gives to brands and partners, without controversy."

In October 2013, KSI signed with Maker Studios' sub-network, Polaris.

Since 19 October 2013, KSI has been part of the British YouTube group known as the Sidemen.

The group produces online videos, most often consisting of challenges, sketches and video-game commentary, as well as selling exclusive Sidemen merchandise.

In an interview in 2014, he recounted asking his teacher whether he should drop-out.

His teacher asked how much KSI was making from YouTube, to which KSI answered, "around £1,500 a month", which was more than his teacher earned.

His parents initially disapproved, but later became supportive and featured in a number of his videos.

The brothers ranked first and second respectively as the "UK's Most Influential YouTube Creators" by Tubular Labs in 2015.

In 2015, KSI published a biography titled KSI: I Am a Bellend.

The book was released on 24 September 2015 in the UK and five days later in the United States, and KSI toured to support the book from its release until 4 October 2015.

He featured in the British comedy film Laid in America in 2016 and was the subject of KSI: Can't Lose in 2018, a documentary film following the build-up to his first boxing match, and KSI: In Real Life in 2023, an Amazon Prime Video documentary film following his life from June 2021 to October 2022.

On 4 August 2017, KSI tweeted that he would be leaving the Sidemen, citing conflicts with fellow member, Ethan Payne.

Shortly thereafter, he released a number of diss track videos criticising members of his then-former group, to which most of the members responded back with their own.

Later that month, KSI released a video in which he claimed that he was being deported from the United States for receiving an incorrect visa.

He was involved in a white-collar boxing match against Joe Weller in February 2018.

Two further boxing events against American YouTuber Logan Paul took place, the second of which was a professional bout in which he won via split decision in November 2019.

In August 2022, he fought two people in the same night, defeating rapper Swarmz and professional boxer Luis Alcaraz Pineda.

In 2023, he fought FaZe Temperrr in January, Joe Fournier in May and Tommy Fury in October, which he lost via unanimous decision.

His debut studio album, Dissimulation, released in 2020 and debuted at number 2 on the UK Albums Chart.

His second studio album, All Over the Place, released in 2021 and debuted at number 1.

He has achieved fourteen top 40 singles on the UK Singles Chart, seven of them ending up in the Top 10 and five of them ending up in the Top 5.