KSI Flashcards
Product context
- KSI is a British Youtuber, rapper, entrepreneur and boxer
- CEO of misfits boxing, Co founder of The Sidemen, Co owner of Prime, XIX Vodka
- Second album, ‘All over the place’ debuted at #1 on the UK album chart
Origins of fame
- KSI rose to fame uploading comedic gaming commentary videos of FIFA (+ more games)
- His channel then diversified to also include vlog and comedy clips
What does KSI stand for
Knowledge, Strength and Integrity
- He aims to be a strong and realistic figure that young boys can look up to
Subscriber count
KSI - 24 million
JJ - 16.2 million
KSI Clips - 1.22 million
Jide Junior - 115k
= 41.53 million total subscribers across all channels
Target audience
Demographics
- Young, male, heterosexual, British (some international audiences), B, C1, C2, D
Psychographics
- Digital natives, games, sports, culture of convenience
How KSI targets this audience
- Producing relatable, diverse content
- Comedy
- Authenticity - Direct mode of address
- Collabs
- Aspirational
- Entrepreneurial spirit
- Direct fan engagement
- Multiplatform
- Evolving to fit the trends
KSI as a mainstream/ alternative product?
Mainstream
- Driven by the logic of profit and power
- Mainstream values
- No niche group is being targeted
- No diversification
KSI has become a business and a brand
Q&A Sunday analysis
- high energy (jump cuts)
- crude humour - authentic, unscripted
- high key lighting
- everyday mise en scene (bedroom)
- zany self deprecating humour
How did KSI become a global star?
- By being internationally resonant, his confidence and macho is appealing to his fans
- YouTube cultivates a distinct young, Black British voice. KSI achieves the model of ‘make local, distribute local’
- Furthermore, ‘beef’ with American YouTubers extend participants reach and notoriety has aided his US success
Sidemen
- ‘IRL Tinder’ - achieved mainstream fame and boosted the Sidemen to 85 million monthly viewers
- Creating content about the Logan Paul vs KSI match gained a large amount of exposure for them
Nov 30 2020 - 10 million subscribers
Why were the Sidemen a success?
- Appeals to Aspirers
- Mature sense of humour
- Degree of diversity
- Range of stories/backgrounds from people in their group
- Audiences have their favourites
- Long form, highly produced content - bridges the gap between TV and Vlogs
Internet regulation
- Celebs promised to disclose if they have been paid to promote an item
- Comes after an investigation from the CMA amid concerns about consumer protection laws and fans mistaking certain posts for stars’ personal views
YouTube celebrity culture
- Voyeuristic relationship created from the idea of a community, interactive
- Audiences expect to consume the YouTuber’s lifestyle creating a parasocial relationship, expectation that audiences are ‘friends’ with YouTubers
‘Not over yet’ Music video Analysis
- Direct mode of address to the audience
- Urban setting conveys machismo
- Voyeurism, audience is positioned to see KSI as attractive and have a personal insight into KSI’s emotions
- Rocky/ Creed training montage - enhances machismo (intertextual reference)
‘So… I lost’ Vlog Analysis
- Colloquial language
- honest, “broke down crying”, “just wanted a break”
- Mise en scene - familiar location (bedroom) , cheap lofi production (enhances relatability)
KSI constructing authenticity
- Colloquial language
- Talking about his family and struggles (realistic)
- Direct address to audience
- Guests (members of his family/ internet celebs) - helps to build a personal relationship as they feel they are a part of his family
KSI representing himself
- Increasingly more sensitive in how he represents different social groups (self-regulating and conscious of audience impact)
- “cocky, cool older brother” persona seen as a combination of many traditionally masculine traits:
- competitive
- suspicious of femininity
- Success motivated
- ‘rude’ or impolite behaviour
- physical strength
KSI representing his values
- Through his name
- Through his boxing career (motivational atmosphere)
- Through dedication and hard training he was able to win, shows KSI’s ambition rather than his arrogance. He is putting in the work
“KSI in real life” Amazon Prime documentary Analysis
- Reinforces the KSI persona - working hard and resilience (gym)
Alternative insights into KSI
- Not all realistic, because of his success he feels like failure is worse
- KSI still goes through similar experiences his audience has (eg. breakup and family issues)
- Shows a vulnerable and emotional side, subverts typical machismo
“My Gaming Setup” vlog Analysis
- Promotion of masculinity (Judith Butler, gender performativity)
- Desktop background
- Weights - traditional promotion of masculinity as strength
- Suggestive and exaggerated language
