KSI — All Over The Place — Album Review
Pop | Rap | Afrobeat
Listen on Spotify | Listen on Apple Music
Note: I’ll be reviewing the “Platinum V.I.P” edition of this album, as there are literally two songs difference between it and the standard edition.
The alias of Olajide (JJ) Olatunji, known as KSI is the person I fully respect as the “is there anything he can’t do” type of guy. As someone who aspires to be as versatile as I can, he certainly sands as a great role model. I have been a fan of him and his YouTube channel for what I imagine to be around a decade at this point.
But despite excelling so much in his YouTube career, KSI kept pushing the boundaries of what he could do. Aside from his career as a content creator, he is also well known in the boxing world, and of course, the music world.
There was a time, where KSI’s music felt more like a byproduct of his YouTube career. This especially seemed to be a case when he became a prominent figure in the platform’s “diss track season”. I feel that this did affect the way I saw KSI and the purpose behind his music, and not for the better either.
That being said, it did take me longer than it might’ve for other people to properly warm to his more serious, commercial, and detached-from-YouTube musical material. It did feel long overdue, but I finally appreciated KSI as a song artist fully, as the months passed following his debut studio album Dissimulation.
At the moment of that album’s release, my outlook on it did seem a bit more dismissive than it possibly deserved, looking back on it. I simply cherry-picked the songs I liked most, and just left it at that.
But as the rest of 2020 unfolded, the appeal of Dissimulation kept chipping away at my mind, until eventually, I felt it fair to give it a proper listen. Fair to say, I was pleasantly surprised, and this led me to include Dissimulation as part of my Last Minute Reviews Week of 2020.
Despite the clear success of that album, KSI (in typical fashion) didn’t want to stop there. It didn’t feel like that long at all before the creative already had his mind set on his next musical project.
He wanted it to top everything that Dissimulation offered. He wanted it to be way more musically diverse. And he wanted it to dive even deeper into who KSI is as a person. Perfectly reflecting the hecticly creative life of this individual, the name given to KSI’s sophomore album is All Over The Place.
The album was lightly teased at first by the likes of 2020’s “Really Love” (featuring Craig David and Digital Farm Animals), and early 2021’s “Don’t Play” (featuring Anne Marie and….again….Digital Farm Animals). However, the one teaser track that, for me, felt like the true eureka moment for both KSI, and how much I enjoyed his music, would have to be his collaboration with YUNGBLUD & Polo G, that was “Patience”.
This track offered something that I felt like no other KSI track offered before; the far more pop-influenced feel of this single pretty much affirmed to me, that KSI was not only capable of exploring different genres, but was successful in doing so as well. I was truly surprised by KSI’s more melodic vocals, although I know a bit of autotune had been sprinkled on-top.
KSI only went further into the pop side of things with the release of “Holiday” which, to this day, stands as the most pop-like track he has ever created. It’s extremely wholesome, and extremely accessible. and if artists like Ed Sheeran have told us anything, its that this combination is a very effective one.
Upon the arrival of the full album, even more versatility came flooding in. However, it was great to see that KSI hadn’t completely let go of his rap roots just yet. In fact, it was those kinds of tracks that were the most successful in presenting just how much KSI has evolved as a song artist.
More so than the likes of Dissimulation, All Over The Place’s appeal is more evenly spread between the impressive features, and KSI himself. In fact, featureless tracks like “The Moment”, “Madness”, and “You” (although the last sounds like a complete ditto of Drakes “Passionfruit”), proved to be some of my favourite moments.
It definitely felt clear to me that this album’s aim was to be versatile yet accessible. However, some of the tracks felt a little too gimmicky for their on good as a result. in other words, there were a few tracks on this thing where the more novelty side of things that plagued his earliest of tunes felt like they were seeping through the cracks a little.
There were also a few eyebrow-raising lyrics (queue “Wrecking my balls, Miley”), which ultimately leaved me with conflicted feelings. Because on one hand, it makes it harder to take KSI seriously, but on the other hand, does he really want that.
In every field, KSI has always had that slightly goofy element, that breaks the celebrity shell a little bit to reveal KSI as just another human being. He shows that anyone can be like him, and get to where he is, if you’re just willing to work hard. And that, in itself, is the most valuable quality to take away from All Over The Place.
Favourite Tracks: Number 2 | Patience | Madness
Least Favourite Track: Silly
Beerus Ltd | RBC | BMG
Enjoyment: 8/10 | Memorability: 8/10 | Atmosphere: 7/10
Uniqueness: 7/10 | Satisfaction: 7/10 | Narrative: 8/10
