With apologies to Jennifer Lopez, there’s a new superstar from the Bronx who represents the American Dream.
Kai Cenat - born in 2001 - is the New York native who has gone from joking around with Facebook videos to having Snoop Dogg, Lebron James, Kevin Hart and Nicki Minaj as guests on his streams.
Love him, loathe him, Kai is here to stay. How has he become one of the biggest content creators in a matter of years?
A Gen Z Cen-derella story
Cenat, born in 2001, is someone who grew up with the world at his fingertips - quite literally.
Gen Z have a near-instinctive understanding of content creation, which is both a blessing and a curse.
How do you stand out when everyone has the same tools?
Well, for Kai, his career is really a lesson in perseverance.
Starting out simple, Kai would produce short, comedic skits on Facebook. Popular enough, he had a good time, but he wasn’t exactly positioning himself as a threat to MrBeast’s crown.
Rather than sticking to what he knew, Kai began moving with the media. Facebook became YouTube, with his videos becoming more concentrated.
Reaction videos became a cornerstone of Kai’s content - not only were these a proven winning formula for content creators, it allowed him a chance to bring more of his unique personality and style to the videos.
This is how he first began breaking out to new audiences. His exaggerated reactions, off-the-cuff comments and, sometimes polarizing behavior, cemented him as someone to watch - a media personality for a new age of plugged in, and clued up, fans.
Other successful moves followed, including something which would become a signature of Cenat’s - collaboration.
Kai joined the YouTube group AMP (Any Means Possible), working with other Bronx-born YouTubers like Fanum and Duke Dennis.
But the riches really came from the Twitches
Every massive success story has that chapter which changes the game, from Beyonce dropping Crazy in Love as her debut solo single to Tom Brady’s career defining 2021 Super Bowl appearance.
For Kai Cenat, it was an early adoption of the platform Twitch.
In 2021, Kai moved over to the platform, which had a more immediate interactive element than the likes of YouTube. Not only did this play to his strengths - unfiltered humor, genuine reactions, and a talent for crowdplay similar to that of a stand-up comic - Kai was able to shape the platform.
Since he was one of the first(ish) major names, he didn’t have to follow a rulebook - he got to write it.
Instead of sticking to formulaic ‘play with me’ Twitch streams, Kai built immersive challenges, pranks, and wove in some of his earlier talent for skits and comedy. It wasn’t really just about gameplay anymore - it was a variety hour with Kai Cenat.
Marathon 2
Once he had established himself as a force on Twitch, 2024 saw Kai reach a new peak.
In June, he set a record with 712,600 peak concurrent viewers for his livestream sleepover with Kevin Hart and fellow creator Druski.
The rise, fall and rise of Kai Cenat
Cenat's appeal has since gone stratospheric. Commercials for McDonald's and T-Mobile. He was the first streamer to partner with Nike. People who the culture want to hear from come to him, and not the other way around. Think Ice Spice. Tyla. SZA. Even more polarizing figures like Chrisean and Blueface. If they are generating chatter across social media, Kai gets them to join him on a stream.
He knows who people want to see, and knows how to get them in an unguarded, candid way.
Which could explain how he let it all get a bit… out of control.
Greek mythology lovers, this next one’s for you. Like Icarus flying too close to the sun, I-Kai-rus started moving without consequence. Or so he thought.
Kai Cenat has drawn plenty of criticism for thoughtless actions, including:
- Allowing a magician to appear to ‘hang himself’ during a Twitch stream
- Inciting a riot in New York after offering a chaotic PS5 giveaway
- Receiving a ban from Twitch for simulated sexual activity.
None have seriously hurt his career as of yet - and some might argue it adds to the mystique of the free radical celebrity not beholden to media training - but as we’ve seen from the awful YouTube apology videos in the past, it doesn’t take much for the internet to turn.
Lessons from Kai Cenat’s ascent
- Try. Kai wasn’t afraid to try new platforms, and branching out to Twitch arguably helped cement his clout
- Authenticity. Part of Kai’s appeal is that he hasn’t been swayed or influenced by his star power. He still calls the shots, and the content we’re getting is authentic to him and his fanbase.
This Bronx-born celebrity is something of a pioneer for the Gen Z way of building an empire. However, don’t be fooled by the rocks that he got, he’s still Cen-ny from the Block.