"Killa Killa" ( edited for radio as "Thrilla Thrilla") is a song by English YouTuber and rapper

KSI Olajide Olayinka Williams "JJ" Olatunji (born 19 June 1993), known professionally as KSI, is an English YouTuber and rapper. He is a co-founder and member of the British YouTube group known as the Sidemen. He is the CEO of Misfits Boxing and t ...

from his debut studio album, '' Dissimulation'' (2020). The song features a guest appearance from British-American singer Aiyana-Lee. It was produced by Diego Ave and Yoshi. The song was released for digital download and

streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...

RBC Records RBC Records is an American online independent record label and management company founded by partners Brian Shafton and Bob Grossi. It provides artists and independent labels with a full-service "virtual label" alternative to signing with a maj ...

and

BMG BMG may refer to: Organizations * Music publishing companies: ** Bertelsmann Music Group, a 1987–2008 division of Bertelsmann that was purchased by Sony on October 1, 2008 *** Sony BMG, a 2004–2008 joint venture of Bertelsmann and Sony that wa ...

on 22 May 2020 and was later released as the fifth

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from the album on 17 July 2020. "Killa Killa" is an upbeat hip hop track with

caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

and

afrobeat Afrobeat is a Nigerian music genre that involves the combination of West African musical styles (such as traditional Yoruba music and highlife) and American funk, jazz, and soul influences, with a focus on chanted vocals, complex intersecting ...

influences. The song's lyrics are about KSI's success in his

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

, music and

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

careers and how he is not to be messed with. "Killa Killa" received positive reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

, who commonly praised Aiyana-Lee's catchy

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

and KSI's playful and confident verses. The song charted at number 27 in the United Kingdom and number 33 in Ireland. An accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

was released on 17 July 2020. The video stars the two artists as

criminals In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...

who commit a heist.

Music and lyrics

"Killa Killa" is an upbeat hip hop track with

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

and

influences. Aiyana-Lee sings the

, while KSI raps two verses. The song's lyrics are about how KSI is killing the game in more ways than one and when he puts his mind to something, he normally succeeds. This song is a reminder that KSI quickly evolved from a

sensation, to a

champion, to a bonafide, respected music artist. Speaking about "Killa Killa", KSI said, "This track is straight KSI! I'm like, 'Yo. I'm here killing everything that I'm doing. I'm killing music, boxing, YouTube. I'm killing all of that.' It's a track to show that I'm not to be messed with." Speaking on Aiyana-Lee's contribution to the track, KSI remarked, "She's a wild one. She came with exactly what I needed for the chorus."

Release and promotion

"Killa Killa" was released for digital download and

and

on 22 May 2020. A

lyric video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

for "Killa Killa" was released to KSI's YouTube channel on 3 July 2020. On 17 July 2020, "Killa Killa" was released as the fifth

from KSI's debut studio album, '' Dissimulation'' (2020). On the same day, a censored version of the song was serviced to

adult contemporary radio Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet s ...

in the United Kingdom, under the name "Thrilla Thrilla". The single's cover art depicts KSI and Aiyana-Lee as cartoon characters, dressed in black clothing, in front of a black and red background.

Critical reception

"Killa Killa" was met with positive reviews from

. In her review of ''Dissimulation'' for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'',

Kitty Empire Kitty Empire is the pen name of a British writer and music critic, currently writing for ''The Observer''. Early life Empire says that she was born in Montreal, Quebec in 1970 and brought up in Canada, Italy and Egypt before arriving in Britai ...

called "Killa Killa" a "

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from ''Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization in ...

-in-waiting".

GRM Daily GRM Daily (Grime & Rap Music Daily), formerly Grime Daily, is a British urban music outlet and entertainment platform. As the name suggests, the platform is an outlet for UK rap and its various genres, such as UK drill, afroswing, trap, and Briti ...

's Courtney Wynter called "Killa Killa" an "upbeat track with a fun energy". Wynter liked how "KSI creates a playful vibe, flexing during his verses" and she praised Aiyana-Lee's "catchy chorus". Sarah Akomanyi of

Link Up TV Link Up TV is a music promotional platform based in London, United Kingdom. It has the second largest rap-based promotional YouTube channel in the United Kingdom after GRM Daily with over 11,111 videos uploaded, 1.7 million subscribers and 1.6 ...

remarked that "KSI's confidence is hard to miss through

he song He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

which makes for clear and consistent verses". Akomanyi proclaimed, "A track like this is bound to go off when it comes to live shows."

Music video

The

for "Killa Killa" was co-directed by Troy Roscoe and Nayip Ramos. It premiered on KSI's YouTube channel on 17 July 2020 at 15:00 UTC. The music video stars KSI and Aiyana-Lee as a pair of

who commit a heist. The video's

plot Plot or Plotting may refer to: Art, media and entertainment * Plot (narrative), the story of a piece of fiction Music * ''The Plot'' (album), a 1976 album by jazz trumpeter Enrico Rava * The Plot (band), a band formed in 2003 Other * ''Plot' ...

is continued in the music video for KSI's song "

Domain Domain may refer to: Mathematics *Domain of a function, the set of input values for which the (total) function is defined **Domain of definition of a partial function **Natural domain of a partial function **Domain of holomorphy of a function * Do ...

" (2020), later released on 25 December 2020.

Commercial performance

In the United Kingdom, "Killa Killa" debuted at number 27 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and number 15 on the UK Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart, with first week sales of 15,853 track-equivalent units. The song spent the next three weeks on the UK Singles Chart at positions 80, 89 and 82, before dropping out of the chart. Three weeks later, the song re-entered the chart at number 79 following the release of the song's lyric video, before dropping out and then re-entering again the following week at number 64 following the release of the song's music video. In Ireland, "Killa Killa" debuted at number 33 on the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are bas ...

and spent two weeks on the chart.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from Genius and

Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * Tidal (album), ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * ...

. *

songwriting, vocals * Aiyana-Leevocals * Diego Aveproduction, songwriting * Yoshiproduction, songwriting * Tiina Vainikainensongwriting * William Rappaportsongwriting * Michalis Michaelmixing * Henkka Niemistömastering * JustAGhostcover art, lyrics video

Charts

Release history

References

External links

* {{KSI 2020 songs 2020 singles KSI songs Songs written by KSI RBC Records singles BMG Rights Management singles