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"Wake Up Call" is a song by British YouTuber and rapper
KSI Olajide Olayinka Williams "JJ" Olatunji (born 19 June 1993), better known by his online alias KSI, is an English influencer, professional boxer and musician. He is a co-founding member of YouTube group the Sidemen, the CEO of Misfits Boxing a ...
from his debut studio album, '' Dissimulation'' (2020). The song features a guest appearance from American rapper and singer
Trippie Redd Michael Lamar White IV (born June 18, 1999), known professionally as Trippie Redd, is an American rapper and singer. Born and raised in Canton, Ohio, he has contributed to the progression of emo rap and rage, a subgenre of trap music. His de ...
. The song was produced by S-X and Mally Mall. It was released for digital download and
streaming Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downl ...
by
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 major ...
and BMG on 31 January 2020 as the second
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. A
pop-rap Pop rap (also known as pop hip-hop, pop hop, hip pop, melodic hip-hop or melodic rap) is a genre of music fusing the rhythm-based lyricism of hip hop with pop's preference for melodic vocals, catchy hooks, and positive lyrics on pop-like p ...
track, its lyrics are about how KSI has proven his doubters wrong and how they are finally accepting his success. "Wake Up Call" 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 ...
, who commonly praised the song's
synth A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...
-driven instrumental and Trippie Redd's catchy
chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song), the part of a song that is repeated several times, usually after each verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in whic ...
. The song charted at number 11 in the United Kingdom and further charted in Australia, Canada, Estonia, Hungary, Ireland and the Netherlands. An accompanying
music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
was released on the same day as the song. The video is a
comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...
-
musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...
film, presented in the form of satirical behind-the-scenes footage, scene explanations,
outtake An outtake is a portion of a work (usually a film or music recording) that is removed in the editing process and not included in the work's final, publicly released version. In the digital era, significant outtakes have been appended to CD and D ...
s and
closing credits Closing credits, aka end credits or end titles, are a list of the cast and crew of a particular motion picture, television show, or video game. While opening credits appear at the beginning of a work, closing credits appear close to or at th ...
, which stars KSI and Trippie Redd alongside a
dance troupe A dance troupe or dance company is a group of dancers and associated personnel who work together to perform dances as a sport, spectacle or entertainment. There are many different types of dance companies, often working in different list of dance ...
, all dressed in memorable costumes.


Background

Speaking on collaborating with Trippie Redd, KSI said, " t waspretty standard. We asked him to jump on the track. He fucked with it ndsaid yes. We linked up tthe
music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
hoot.. that’s when we first met. He’s a cool guy. We
ere Ere or ERE may refer to: * ''Environmental and Resource Economics'', a peer-reviewed academic journal * ERE Informatique, one of the first French video game companies * Ere language, an Austronesian language * Ebi Ere (born 1981), American-Nigeria ...
chatting away. We said
hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...
we’ll go to the
studio A studio is a space set aside for creative work of any kind, including art, dance, music and theater. The word ''studio'' is derived from the , from , from ''studere'', meaning to study or zeal. Types Art The studio of any artist, esp ...
one day." KSI has said that "it made sense to have rippie Reddon the track". KSI explained, "His vocals are very, very different to mine. Mine relaid-back and chilled, whereas he’s singing properly. oit worked."


Music and lyrics

"Wake Up Call" is a
pop-rap Pop rap (also known as pop hip-hop, pop hop, hip pop, melodic hip-hop or melodic rap) is a genre of music fusing the rhythm-based lyricism of hip hop with pop's preference for melodic vocals, catchy hooks, and positive lyrics on pop-like p ...
track. The instrumental features bright
synth A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...
pads and moderately mixed drum sequencing and bass rhythms. Trippie Redd performs the
chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song), the part of a song that is repeated several times, usually after each verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in whic ...
in a melodic delivery, while KSI performs the two verses in a controlled flow. Lyrically, "Wake Up Call" is KSI's message to the doubters that he is still here and proving people wrong. KSI told
Apple Music Apple Music is an audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users can select music to stream to their device on-demand, or listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the sister internet radio stations Apple Musi ...
, "This
ong Ong or ONG may refer to: Arts and media * Ong's Hat, a collaborative work of fiction * “Ong Ong”, a song by Blur from the album The Magic Whip Places * Ong, Nebraska, US, city * Ong's Hat, New Jersey, US, ghost town * Ong River, Odisha, ...
is to let people know that I'm coming for them. It's a wake-up call to let them know
hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...
I'm doing something with this music thing. It's time to take me seriously... This is just a little warning. I'm coming. There isn't anything
hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...
anyone can do about it." He continued, "People thought they'd be able to just get rid of me, but I keep popping up and getting in people's faces... All these people want to jump on the bandwagon now
hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...
they realise 'mwhere it's at."


Release and promotion

On 14 January 2020, KSI revealed during an interview with ''Vice'' that he would soon be releasing a new
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 ...
which will "feature a huge name in American rap". On 25 January 2020, KSI posted the song's cover art to his
social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...
pages, revealing the title as "Wake Up Call" and the featured artist as Trippie Redd, and the song was made available to
pre-order A pre-order is an order placed for an item that has not yet been released. The idea for pre-orders came because people found it hard to get popular items in stores because of their popularity. Companies then had the idea to allow customers to r ...
on digital download services and pre-save on
streaming Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downl ...
services. "Wake Up Call" was released for digital download and streaming by
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 major ...
and BMG on 31 January 2020 as the second single from KSI's upcoming debut studio album. Shortly after the release of "Wake Up Call", KSI started a
TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...
video challenge called the "#WakeUpCallChallenge" to promote the song. KSI watched viewers' TikTok videos in a
reaction video A reaction video, or a react video, is a video in which one or more persons react to something. Videos showing the emotional reactions, criticism or commentary of people viewing movies, television series episodes, film trailers, music videos, news, ...
released to
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
on 11 February 2020. TikTok videos using the challenge's
hashtag A hashtag is a metadata tag operator that is prefaced by the hash symbol, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services–especially Twitter and Tumblr–as a form of user-generated tagging that enable ...
have accumulated over 150 million views. A remix of "Wake Up Call" by producer Yoshi that replaces KSI's two verses from the original version with new verses by KSI, British rapper
P Money Paris Joel Moore-Williams (born 8 April 1989), better known by his stage name P Money, is a British grime MC, rapper and songwriter from New Cross, South East London, who is also active in the drum and bass scene. He is best known for his li ...
and British YouTuber
TBJZL Tobit John Brown (born 8 April 1993), better known as TBJZL, is an English YouTuber, streamer, and influencer. He is a member and co-founder of the British YouTube group the Sidemen. He is the co-owner of XIX Vodka, Sidemen Clothing, restauran ...
(credited
mononymously A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. A mononym may be the person's only name, given to them at birth. This was routine in most ancient societies, and remains ...
as Tobi) was released on 6 March 2020. An accompanying audio video was released to KSI's YouTube channel on the same day. On 13 March 2020, KSI performed "Wake Up Call" during
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...
's
fundraising Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...
telethon A telethon (a portmanteau of "television" and "marathon") is a televised fundraising event that lasts many hours or days, the purpose of which is to raise money for a charitable, political or other cause. Most telethons feature heavy solicitatio ...
''
Sport Relief ''Sport Relief'' was a wikt:biennial, biennial charity event from Comic Relief, in association with BBC Sport, established in 2002. It was the idea of Kevin Cahill, CBE, who had joined Comic Relief in 1991 to establish a new department as Dire ...
''. It was KSI's first-ever televised live music performance. Ahead of the live performance, KSI said, "I want to nail this so
hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...
I can do more live TV and showcase a YouTuber that is able to go on to mainstream and do TV. It’s nerve-racking, but it’s exciting. I’m hoping that people will see my performance and want to see more of my music."


Critical reception

"Wake Up Call" was met with 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 ...
. In his review for ''HotNewHipHop'', R. Dominiq praised that KSI's verses " itinto the pocket of the instrumentation perfectly". Dominiq remarked that "Wake Up Call" is "a testament to the versatility of KSI as an overall entertainer" and concluded that " SIs now a full-blown emcee with the ability to hang with some of the most prominent rappers of this current generation". Writing for ''Euphoria'', Tom Fogden noted that "Wake Up Call" has a "celebratory tone". He liked Trippie Redd's "melodic" chorus and he called KSI's verses "impactful with their lyrics and well-judged on the beat". Fogden called the beat "the star of the show" and remarked that it "will be stuck in your head for days on end". Fogden positively concluded, "If you hadn't heard of KSI beforehand, you'd assume rap was his full-time vocation".
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 Br ...
's Courtney Wynter called the song "a playful offering from KSI which he uses to flex" and she praised Trippie Redd's "energetic" chorus and the song's "bouncy instrumental". Writing for ''Insider'', Kat Tenbarge observed that "Wake Up Call" is a "delightfully pop-friendly diversion from SI'sicier tracks". Ali Siddique of ''Dankanator'' called "Wake Up Call" a "catchy tune" and a "guaranteed hit".


Music video

The music video for "Wake Up Call" was directed by Nayip Ramos and was filmed in
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...
,
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
. It was released to KSI's YouTube channel on 31 January 2020. A
behind-the-scenes https://www Googlefinans.co= In filmmaking, behind-the-scenes (BTS), also known as the making-of, the set, or on the set, is a documentary film that features the production of a film or television program. This is often referred to as the EPK ( ...
video of the music video shoot was uploaded to the channel on 21 February 2020. The music video is a
musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serv ...
that
parodies A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satirical or ironic imitation. Often its subject is an original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, etc), but a parody can als ...
the ''
Austin Powers ''Austin Powers'' is a series of American satirical spy comedy films created by Mike Myers, who stars as the British spy Austin Powers as well as his arch-nemesis, Dr. Evil. The series consists of '' International Man of Mystery'' (1997), ' ...
'' film series. The video stars KSI and Trippie Redd alongside a
dance troupe A dance troupe or dance company is a group of dancers and associated personnel who work together to perform dances as a sport, spectacle or entertainment. There are many different types of dance companies, often working in different list of dance ...
, all dressed in memorable costumes. The video is presented in the style of satirical behind-the-scenes footage, scene explanations,
outtake An outtake is a portion of a work (usually a film or music recording) that is removed in the editing process and not included in the work's final, publicly released version. In the digital era, significant outtakes have been appended to CD and D ...
s and
closing credits Closing credits, aka end credits or end titles, are a list of the cast and crew of a particular motion picture, television show, or video game. While opening credits appear at the beginning of a work, closing credits appear close to or at th ...
. Speaking about the concept of the video, KSI explained, "It was quite a funny shoot. I was talking with the director to make sure we got the idea right. I was like, 'It would be funny if I was just pissed off orthe whole shoot... It would just be chaos, but there would be beauty in the chaos.'" Discussing the costumes that he wore in the video, KSI explained, "I didn't even know
hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...
I was going to be wearing a yellow suit, so it was quite funny, and I thought, 'I look fucking ridiculous.' Even with the
fatsuit A fatsuit, also known as a fat suit or a fat-suit, is a bodysuit-like undergarment used to thicken the appearance of an actress or actor of light to medium build into an overweight or obese character, in conjunction with prosthetic makeup. Fatsui ...
, I've never worn a fatsuit ever in my life." KSI concluded, "It was quite interesting to see how the video went down and I was very happy with how it ended up." Nayip Ramos said, " t was oe of my most ambitious and ridiculous sets. We laughed so much ilming this video t was agreat time!"


Commercial performance

In the United Kingdom, "Wake Up Call" was the country's second-most downloaded song in its first week of release. It earned the highest new entry on the UK Singles Chart, debuting at number 11, narrowly missing out on the top 10 of the chart, with first-week sales of 29,800 track-equivalent units. The song spent a total of nine weeks on the chart. "Wake Up Call" also debuted at number seven on the UK Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart. KSI reacted to the commercial success of "Wake Up Call" at the time, tweeting, "This is actually insane. The support has been amazing... I am so grateful to you guys for supporting e" In Ireland, "Wake Up Call" entered 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 ...
at number 23 and spent a total of six weeks on the chart. Elsewhere in Europe, "Wake Up Call" charted at number 26 on the Hungary Singles Chart, number 36 on the Estonian Singles Chart, and number 29 on the Dutch Single Tip chart. The song also charted at number seven on the
Euro Digital Song Sales The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...
chart. In Australia, "Wake Up Call" debuted at number 92 on the
ARIA Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...
. In Canada, the song debuted at number 85 on the
Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. It was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007 as the standard record chart in Canada; a new chart ...
.


Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from
Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''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 * Tidal (servic ...
. *
KSI Olajide Olayinka Williams "JJ" Olatunji (born 19 June 1993), better known by his online alias KSI, is an English influencer, professional boxer and musician. He is a co-founding member of YouTube group the Sidemen, the CEO of Misfits Boxing a ...
songwriting, vocals *
Trippie Redd Michael Lamar White IV (born June 18, 1999), known professionally as Trippie Redd, is an American rapper and singer. Born and raised in Canton, Ohio, he has contributed to the progression of emo rap and rage, a subgenre of trap music. His de ...
songwriting, vocals * S-Xproduction, songwriting * Mally Mallproduction, songwriting * Mams Taylorsongwriting * Byron Tricesongwriting * William Rappaportsongwriting * Michalis Michaelmixing * Henkka Niemistömastering


Charts


Certifications


Release history


See also

* List of UK Independent Singles Chart number ones of 2020


References


External links

* * * {{Trippie Redd 2020 songs 2020 singles KSI songs Trippie Redd songs Songs written by KSI Songs written by Trippie Redd Songs written by S-X Songs written by Mally Mall Song recordings produced by S-X RBC Records singles BMG Rights Management singles Pop-rap songs UK Independent Singles Chart number-one singles