YouTuber KSI tops UK album chart

28-year-old Britain knocks Inhaler off the top spot at second attempt

VENICE, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 05: KSI gestures to the camera after working out at Venice Beach ahead of KSI vs. Logan Paul 2 on November 05, 2019 in Venice, California. KSI vs. Logan Paul 2 will be held on November 9, 2019 at Staples Center.   Victor Decolongon/Getty Images/AFP
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YouTuber, boxer and rapper KSI has become the first YouTube star to get a UK number one album.

His 16-track debut offering, All Over The Place, has been streamed 20.9 million times since its release last week, enough to topple Bono's son's band Inhaler from the top spot at the second time of asking.

KSI was ecstatic when interviewed by the Official Charts Company.

"Your boy did it!" he said. "Finally got it, a number one album - mad!"

"I never thought I'd ever get one of these.

"I have no right - I'm a YouTuber!"

The album had already notched a string of top-10 singles, including Holiday (below), thanks in part to an impressive collection of guest stars such as Youngblud, Anne-Marie and Craig David.

KSI, whose real name is Olajide Olatunji, came to fame nearly a decade ago when he started posting videos of himself playing computer games on YouTube.

So far has his star ascended that next month he will play to thousands of revellers on the main stage of the Reading and Leeds Festivals.

Last time he performed in front of a crowd of this magnitude was in November 2019 when he beat fellow YouTuber Logan Paul by a split decision in their controversial second boxing bout.



Updated: July 24, 2021, 12:17 AM