“Thick Of It" is a song by English internet personality KSI featuring American rapper Trippie Redd. "Thick Of It" was released for digital download and streaming via Warner Music Group, Beerus Limited, and Atlantic Records on 3 October 2024. The song received generally negative reviews.
Background and Production[]
Produced by Ran Michael Djan Jr., the song samples "Snow (Hey Oh)" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The second collaboration between KSI and Trippie Redd, it was recorded and released during the development of KSI's third album. The song has been described as pop rap. In an interview with Clash, KSI described the song as being about "my life, what's going on, where I'm at and where I want to go," to "bring the listeners up to speed".
Promotion and Release[]
The song was first previewed on 31 August 2024 at MF & DAZN: X Series 17 as a part of KSI's special concert. On 3 October, KSI released "Thick Of It" alongside "Low", another single, for digital download and streaming through Atlantic Records and Warner Music Group. The song's release succeeded KSI's feud with content creator DanTDM in the wake of the controversy surrounding Lunchly, a product he co-founded in partnership with MrBeast and Logan Paul.Following backlash against his response from the YouTube community, KSI posted a tweet linking to the song while purporting it as an apology.
Reception[]
Upon release, the song went viral. It garnered over 5 million views within three days, with Stephen Johnson of Lifehackerdeclaring it the "Viral video of the week" on October 7th. The song peaked at number one on YouTube's Trending for Music chart, accumulating over 11 million views. However, the song received a mixed-to-negative reception upon release, with general audiences and content creators criticising the song on social media. Criticism regarding the song included its lyrics and beat, and the song was described as "generic" and "lacking in substance." Elias Andrews of HotNewHipHop wrote that the song "lacks any real song structure, and consensus is that KSI raps about as convincingly as Ed Sheeran (not a compliment)". The music video as of today has more dislikes than the Minecraft Movie Teaser Trailer, which possibly could become one of YouTube's most disliked videos in the near future.
KSI reacted multiple times to the song's backlash, first responding with a video titled "I'm getting cooked..." He also posted on X that the hate towards his song was "not funny", and posted another video reacting to TikTok clips of the song and expressing that the hatred was forced.