Thick Of It
Song Meaning

“Thick Of It” is KSI’s reflection on his career journey and where he stands after a decade in the public eye, moving from making YouTube videos to boxing matches to a music career 1 2. He sums up that arc with the line “From the screen to the ring, to the pen, to the king,” using each word to mark a different stage of his rise 2. The song functions as a declaration of his transformation from internet fame to multi-hyphenate success as a hitmaker, boxer, and businessman 1, while Trippie Redd’s verse pulls the song toward the heavier emotional cost of that same spotlight 1.The title itself nods to being “in the thick of it,” meaning fully immersed in the pressures and chaos of public life 1.

The meaning

KSI wrote “Thick Of It” as a career-spanning check-in, explicitly stating he wanted “a song where I talk about my life, what’s going on, where I’m at and where I want to go,” adding that after a decade of activity, it felt right to “bring the listeners up to speed” 1. That framing explains why the song reads less like a single narrative and more like a highlight reel of a career.

The clearest distillation of that career arc comes in verse two: “From the screen to the ring, to the pen, to the king / Where’s my crown? That’s my bling.” Each word marks a phase, YouTube (“screen”), boxing (“ring”), music (“pen”), and the success that followed (“king”), compressing years of reinvention into a single bar 2. More broadly, the song has been described as documenting his “career come up, from making YouTube videos, to celebrity boxing matches, to his music career” 2, and as “a declaration of his rise from the pixelated realm of internet fame to the glittering heights of hitmaker, champion boxer and entrepreneur” 1.

Sonically, the track leans on a specific era for its emotional register. Trippie Redd said the vibe recalls “that 2016/2017 era; the music me, Juice WRLD and XXXTENTACION were doing already,” noting “it made me feel good that somebody’s still doing this sound” 1. That reference point matters for the tone of the hook and Trippie’s own verse, both of which carry the moodier, melodic-trap feel associated with that scene.

The two artists also split the emotional weight of the song. KSI’s lyrics stay focused on his public persona and accomplishments, while Trippie Redd’s verse, with lines like “They cast me out, left me for dead, them people cold,” brings in “an emotional counterpoint exploring the darker corners of fame and personal struggle” 1. That contrast plays out directly in the third verse, where Trippie’s “Ain’t nobody gon’ save you, man, this life will break you” sits right next to KSI’s chorus insistence that “everybody knows” who he is now.

Finally, the title functions as the song’s thesis. Being “in the thick of it” points to KSI “navigating the treacherous waters of public life and the pressures that come with it” 1, tying together the boastful chorus (the forty-plus million subscribers, being known “where it snows”) with the more guarded, weary undertone that surfaces once Trippie Redd takes the mic.

Last updated 2026-07-22