KSI and Trippie Redd reveal Drake's real DM reaction to new single Thick Of It

It's a song that ignites you much A heated online chatter ensued, with social media commenters claiming that Drake had thrown “shade” at the track during an Adin Ross Kick stream before subsequently using the audio in an Instagram reel.

Since we're true investigative journalists and like to get to the bottom of the matter, we called KSI and Trippie Redd to set the record straight.

Other topics on the agenda included Thick Of It's Red Hot Chili Peppers sample, chaotic video shoots and The Crypt reaction video. Enjoy!

MORE: See where every KSI song and album charted in the UK

Guys, to paraphrase 2014, Thick Of It completely broke the internet…

KSI: I'm out here fighting demons online. If a lot of haters and a lot of lovers listen, I guess that will lead to this notoriety.

Trippie: They love the haters, they hate the lovers!

KSI: The trend right now is to hate me – I'm getting ripped off left, right and center – TikTok has gone crazy, X… but it is what it is. It was crazy. I'm in the trenches, man, but we live another day!

Well, it looks like 'Thick Of It' will be this week's biggest new release in the UK, so you're a long way from the trenches…

KSI: Oh wow, we'll take it. Let's go, baby!

Trippie: Let's go. That's one hell of a dub, Gemini!

How did the connection come about, who contacted whom?

Trippie: He sent me the song and I thought it was awesome. I'm not going to lie, it took me a minute to record, but once I got to where he was I finished my verse immediately. We took the video two hours later, there was fire.

KSI: Brother, one of the most stressful things was getting you on the plane to England to record it. You get on the plane, get thrown off the plane…

Trippie: Oh my god, bro, I'm sorry!

KSI: No, we still created this amazing piece of art.

Trippie, what connected you so much with this song when JJ sent it to you?

Trippie: The mood definitely reminds me of the 2016/2017 era; the music that me, Juice WRLD and XXXTENTACION have already made. It feels like that bag, it made me feel good that someone was still making that sound. It's fire, that was hard.

The song is a sample of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' 2006 track “Snow (Hey Oh).” This feels like a pretty unexpected – but inspired – decision…

KSI: With me you can expect the unexpected. I just like trying new things.

Trippie: You're from that time too…

KSI: Yesterday I was in the studio working on another song that also contains a sample. People would be like, “Wait, what?” You never know what to expect from me. I like to change things and be unpredictable. I never like doing the same thing over and over again.

Because this song explodes like it did, none of us expected it; especially because I haven't made music in two years. It could have gone really well, or it could have stank. I said, “Fuck it, let’s keep going,” and it just blew up several Reasons…

One of those reasons is, of course, Drake. There's talk online that he's throwing “shade” on the track by asking for it in Adin Ross's recent Kick stream, but then he uses it in an Instagram reel. What's up?

KSI: The Drake thing was crazy, man. The fact that he even puts the song on his reel is huge. I just couldn't believe it, I just thought 'What the hell?'. To be honest, I didn't really know. Several people wrote to me saying, “Brother, Drake used your song!” I had just woken up and was like, 'Yo, what?'. Then I saw it and was like “crazy!”

I sent him a message saying, “Thank you so much for using it,” and he said, “Yeah, I had to, it gets people going!” That's sick, he's real. I appreciate it.

WATCH KSI reveals Drake's reaction to Thick Of It:

Crypt also reacted to the track – have you seen his video?

KSI: I didn't see it! I haven't seen any of the reactions, I'll try to save them all for a video.

Well, we don't want to spoil anything, but there's a lot of love for you…

KSI: And a lot of hate too, bro! But it's yin and yang, man, and we're just here to embrace it all.

MORE: See where every Trippie Redd song and album charted in the UK

To the lovers: Would you ever work together on a full-length collaborative project?

Trippie: I don't think it's not possible! We are great friends.

KSI: You never know, man. We've worked together before (on Wake Up Call 2020), so you honestly never know. But we had our ups and downs. Trippie, when you hooked up with Jake Paul, I wasn't happy, man!

Trippie: No, bro!

What does the rest of 2024 have in store for you guys? More new music?

KSI: For me, 2024 should be a year of preparation. For the first six months I wanted to relax and unwind; I'm going on vacation with my friends, family and girlfriend. Then I was in the studio working to make sure I had bangers left, right and center.

Things could happen, you never know. But for now, this is a year of preparation for 2025.

Trippie: I have a feeling the same thing will happen to me too. I've been working on a lot of new sounds for a while now; Created about 200 songs over four months. I'm narrowing it down and building my team with lots of cool friends who can help me get the music out. I have legend status, I need a little help getting things out there!

“Thick Of It” by KSI ft. Trippie Redd is out now via Atlantic Records UK.