Written by Liam Bedford and Ben Cipolla, this twelve-minute pop-up musical celebrates the remarkable twists and turns of JJ Olatunji’s meteoric rise to fame.
The journey begins in 1993 where JJ’s mum, Yinka, preaches that her son will ‘blow up on the worldwide web’ before she is about to give birth. With a passion for playing video games, young JJ decides to call himself ‘KSI’, which stands for ‘Knowledge, Strength, and Integrity'. Gaming obsessively in his bedroom, he decides to quit school, encouraged by his teacher, to pursue a career in the world of RU-vid. Within a few years, KSI attracts millions of subscribers to his RU-vid channel - all from playing FIFA, releasing music, and becoming a professional boxer. But with all this success, tensions erupt within the family...his brother Deji begins to disown him and he is left all alone on Christmas day...but will he be able to un-rap himself out and continue his quest of becoming a Lord?
The Process
On February 10th, 2021, RU-vidr Liam Bedford posted a video about legitimately making KSI a Lord. Little did he know that KSI would repost his video as an act of gratitude. As a result, Bedford’s RU-vid subscriber count went up by fifteen thousand in just one week. Before he went viral, Liam promised his loyal fans that if he surpassed 500 likes, he would write ‘KSI The Musical’. The video hit 4000 likes within two days. It was time to delve into uncharted territory for Liam, so he reached out to his old university housemate and musician Ben Cipolla, who too had never written a musical before, let alone know who KSI was.
Ben - I remember our first Zoom meeting staring into space thinking, ‘where the hell do I start?’ I was actually quite petrified with the task at hand, especially as Liam wanted me to play the voice of KSI. Though just before the call ended, Liam described the first scene to me, saying that there will be nurses on-screen when Yinka (KSI’s mum) is given birth. I instantly pictured the nurses asking if Yinka was okay...then I thought of ‘are you oK S I…’ and this play on words triggered lots of inspiration…’
With a vague concept in place, Bedford gave Cipolla a seven-day deadline to come up with the music and lyrics. Remarkably, Ben delivered ten songs, all written on an out-of-tune piano. The visual element began to take shape, as Bedford came up with an innovative way of super-imposing his lips onto characters’ faces whilst lip-syncing to the music. He also recorded his body movements in front of a green screen, tracking the character's face on top during post-production. Lockdowns limitations meant space and movement were big challenges while trying to come up with choreography. Bedford and Cipolla both had a movement workshop with choreographer Eleanor Lang and also began to cast the characters of the musical. Bedford managed to bring in some big names from the RU-vid world such as Lauren Alexis (ticket collector), James Daniels (Teacher), and Markimillion, who plays KSI’s body.
Ben - Mark’s natural bravado and Swagga was a perfect match for playing KSI - his presence took the musical onto another level.
In terms of vocals, Cipolla was lucky enough to know an extremely talented singer called James Numbere, who is coincidentally from Nigeria, the same country as KSI’s dad, Jide. James’ vocal versatility meant he could play both parts and really let go in the final number in Lord KSI.
With an extremely quick deadline to be met, Bedford fired through many hours of editing, with the help of another trusted friend, co-editor Ollie Weaver. Together, they synced 18 character’s lips with their respective bodies. Bedford had to upgrade his computer, whilst Cipolla borrowed his girlfriend’s new Macbook just to cope with the processing power of this project. It was a super intense month for them both, but after unrelenting hours of tweaks and drafts, they managed to come out on top, completely exceeding their own expectations...
Thank you to:
Ben Cipolla
/ benjman009
Markimillion
/ @markndrew
James Numbere
@laurenalexis8480
@JamesDaniels
@MoSyed
0:00 Intro featuring Lauren Alexis
0:32 Song One - Are You Ok?
1:22 Song Two - Prove You Wrong
2:39 Song Three - Sidemen
3:49 Song Four - Lambo
5:26 Intermission featuring Mo Syed
5:36 Song Five - Throw In The Towel
6:37 Song Six - Christmas Day
8:37 Song Seven - Speed Dial
10:15 Song Eight - Are You Okay? Reprise
10:50 Song Nine - Lord KSI
11:51 Song Ten - Certified (Time For A Curtain Call)
15 окт 2024
