‘We were getting destroyed!’ – KSI reveals how he turned Lunchly controversy with Mr Beast and Logan Paul into promotion for DanTDM ‘diss track’ that sparked DMs from Drake

Speaking with Akinfenwa, the YouTube sensation also opens up on getting recognised from a young age, dealing with early pressure, and his boxing bouts with Jake Paul and Tommy Fury.

KSI also spoke about moving into music and how he turned the intense backlash surrounding the launch of Lunchly - his food brand with MrBeast and Jake Paul - into a marketing opportunity to promote his DanTDM diss track "Thick Of It".

The controversy began when DanTDM criticised the trio for selling unhealthy, pre-packaged lunch meals to impressionable young fans. However, KSI turned the hate in his favour, which resulted in the social media star receiving DMs from rap star Drake.

Speaking on Beast Mode On, KSI said: "So, you know, I've said this a few times, but the whole "Thick Of It" when I was getting absolutely destroyed after launching Lunchly with Mr. Beast and Logan Paul, you know.

"We were getting destroyed because people were like: 'Oh my god, you know, they're now targeting the kids with, you know, a new product that they're launching… they're trying to poison the kids’. The internet just doing just saying crazy stuff.

"So everyone was just destroying me. So I was there like: 'alright, I could just get angry and then lose. I could just do nothing and still lose because the narrative is that we're just getting destroyed. Or I could get angry and promote my song at the same time.' And that's what I did.

"I was like, I'm going to just use this to promote my song. So, I was there like: 'Yo, I can't believe you said this, D.' I was just tweeting some stuff back at him. He never replied, but I just kept going. I turned it into a meme of me just shouting at him constantly on Twitter or X while also plugging the song to the point where I was like: 'Ah, you know, I've got a song that's dropping. Um, it's a diss track on DanTDM. Just you wait. It's going to go nuts. And, you know, he's finished.' 

"And then I showed a picture. So, I got this added after in the music video, just a little showing of like DanTDM's logo in the music video. I think it was either the trailer or the music video to get people going: 'Oh s**t. A diss track's coming. Oh my god. Oh my god.' And then think of it just took a life of its own because of all that drama and you know the hatred and everyone going nuts.

"More and more people were listening to the song. More and more people made memes of the song and then you know they were like half taking a p**s, half you know being like: 'Oh this is actually decent' and bro everyone was talking about the song to the point where Drake was DMing me about the song like: 'Oh and he put it in one of his reels' and stuff like it was like it just went crazy.

"It just went mental."

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KSI first registered his YouTube channel in 2009 and built his following through his commentary over FIFA games. He then branched out to include vlogs and comedic skits, and in 2019; was ranked second in the Sunday Times' list of most influential online creators in the UK. 

The Beast Mode On Podcast is available via YouTube and Spotify, with all episodes free to watch and listen to now.