Kai Cenat

Kai Carlo Cenat III ( ; born December 16, 2001) is an American online streamer, YouTuber, and internet personality who specializes in comedic live streams and videos. As of 2025, he is the second most-followed Twitch streamer with 17.6 million followers and most-subscribed Twitch streamer. He is a member of the streamer collective Any Means Possible (AMP).

Considered as one of the most popular online streamers in the world, he is known for coining several viral phrases like '' Rizz'', '' Fanum tax'', and '' Gyatt''. Cenat has achieved significant milestones in the streaming community, notably becoming the first Twitch streamer to surpass 500,000 subscribers during his "Mafiathon 2" subathon in November 2024.

Early life and education

Kai Carlo Cenat III was born on December 16, 2001, in Brooklyn, New York City, to parents from the Caribbean. His mother is from Trinidad and Tobago and his father is from Haiti. Cenat was raised by his mother along with his three other siblings, a twin sister named Kaiya, an older brother named Devonte, and a younger brother named Kaleel.

Cenat attended Frederick Douglass Academy for his secondary education. He graduated high school in 2019 and attended the State University of New York at Morrisville shortly after, to study business administration. He dropped out in 2020 after struggling to keep up with both schoolwork and content creation.

Career

2018–2021: Early career

Cenat uploaded his first YouTube video on January 13, 2018, and began making videos surrounding pranks and challenges. He joined the YouTube group AMP after being discovered by fellow Bronx-born YouTuber Fanum. He started regularly appearing in the channel's videos. He began streaming on Twitch in February 2021 after migrating from YouTube, broadcasting gaming and reaction content.

2022: Initial popularity

In 2022, Cenat began including celebrity guests on his streams, including Bobby Shmurda in April, Lil Baby in October, and 21 Savage in November, who helped him receive his highest viewership at the time with 283,245 concurrent viewers at its peak.

On May 8, Cenat released his debut single "Bustdown Rollie Avalanche" with NLE Choppa, that was later certified Gold by RIAA. Cenat had an acting role in the trailer for Polo G's June 2022 single "Distraction".

In October, Cenat was nominated for the 12th Streamy Awards in the "Streamer of the Year" and "Breakout Streamer" categories, winning the former in December.

2023: ''Mafiathon''

On January 31, Cenat began a month-long subathon, titled ''Mafiathon'', which featured guests such as G Herbo, NLE Choppa, Skai Jackson, KSI, DDG, Rubi Rose, and Autumn Falls. On February 16, he signed with United Talent Agency for representation in all areas. On February 28, he became the most-subscribed Twitch streamer of all time at the time, reaching 306,621 subscribers at its peak. His record lasted until September 2024, when it was broken by Ironmouse.

In March, Cenat was reported to be making approximately $23,280 per month from his sleep streams, resulting in an annual income of $285,480. According to Streams Charts, his sleeping broadcasts have amassed over 5.6 million hours watched, showcasing the significant viewer engagement during these streams. On March 11, Cenat won "Streamer of the Year" at the 2023 Streamer Awards.

On April 17, Cenat was temporarily suspended on Twitch for reasons undisclosed, though he eventually returned, with him initially noting it as a permanent ban in error. Later that month, he appeared on ''Rolling Stone'''s list of the 20 Most Influential Creators in 2023. In May, Cenat announced a livestreamed show with IShowSpeed exclusively on Rumble, titled the ''Kai 'N Speed Show.'' On August 27, Cenat won the "Streamer of the Year" award at the 13th Streamy Awards. He was also nominated for "Just Chatting" awards at the same ceremony.

In September, Cenat was featured on the music video for Offset's single " Fan" alongside Fanum. In the following month, he made his music video directorial debut with American rapper a Boogie wit da Hoodie. On September 9, he participated in the Sidemen charity match at London Stadium, playing for YouTube Allstars. On September 26, ''Forbes'' ranked him 44th on its Top Creators list, earning an estimated $4.7 million in 2023. On December 14, Nicki Minaj appeared on Cenat's stream which broke his previous peak viewership record by 40,000 resulting in 348,593 concurrent viewers.

2024: ''Mafiathon 2''

On February 8, during a livestream, Cenat announced that he has officially partnered with Nike stating, "I would like to announce that we are officially a part of the Nike family". He became the first streamer to get signed with the company. Later on February 17, Cenat won "Streamer of the Year" and "Best Just Chatting Streamer" at the February 2024 Streamer Awards. He was also nominated for "Best Streamed Event" at the same ceremony.

On June 2, Cenat along with AMP collaborated with Beta Squad, a British YouTube group, and held a charity soccer match at Selhurst Park, London, England. The event raised funds for The Water Project. The match ended in a 6–6 draw after a pitch invasion forced the game to be called off. On July 13, he appeared and participated in a MrBeast video titled " 50 YouTubers Fight for $1,000,000". In August, ''Rolling Stone'' listed Cenat at number 1 on their "25 Most Influential Creators of 2024" list, as the most-subscribed Twitch influencer. In October, McDonald's announced that they had teamed up with Cenat to promote the launch of chicken Big Macs in the US. Later that month, ''Forbes'' ranked him 24th on its Top Creators list, earning an estimated $8.5 million in 2024.

On November 1, Cenat began his second month-long subathon, titled ''Mafiathon 2'', with 20% of the proceeds made from subscriptions going towards building a school in Nigeria. The subathon featured numerous guests such as Lil Uzi Vert, Miranda Cosgrove, Snoop Dogg, Quavo, GloRilla, members of the cast from the Disney Channel sitcom ''Good Luck Charlie'', Kodak Black, Denzel Curry, Serena Williams, Marshmello, the Jabbawockeez, Soulja Boy, Bill Nye, Andre Iguodala, Lil Dicky, Ibai Llanos, Benny Blanco, Chris Brown, Lizzo, SZA, Ludwig Ahgren, Lil Yachty, Travis Barker, Mark Rober, Sexyy Red, Druski, Kevin Hart, Kyrie Irving, NPC Miles Morales, and Ironmouse. A day after the subathon started, Cenat was banned on Twitch for 6 minutes after he got swatted. On November 11, Cenat reclaimed the record of being the most-subscribed Twitch streamer, with 337,000 subscribers at the time. On November 30, Cenat ended his month-long subathon with 728,535 subscribers, doubling the previous record held by Ironmouse.

In December, Cenat won Best Just Chatting Streamer, Best Marathon Stream, and Best Streamed Collab (for a sleepover stream with Kevin Hart and Druski) at second iteration of The Streamer Awards that year. He was also nominated for Gamer of the Year and Streamer of the Year.

2025–present: ''Streamer University''

In January 2025, Cenat made an appearance for WWE on the January 27 episode of '' Raw'', where he announced that he will be attending the Royal Rumble event and called out IShowSpeed. On March 8, Cenat participated in the 2025 Sidemen Charity Match, held at Wembley Stadium in London, United Kingdom, playing for the YouTube Allstars team. He managed to score a goal in the 68th minute. On May 22, Cenat began his three-day long ''Streamer University'' event, where Cenat selected 120 content creators to gather at the University of Akron campus to "have the opportunity to showcase their personalities and brand and meet other creators". The event also featured other content creators, including DDG and ExtraEmily, acting as professors to mentor the 120 selectees through various topics such as " internet beef" and improv.

Cultural impact

Cenat is credited with popularizing viral internet slang words such as '' rizz'', which is derived from "charisma" and defined as "style, charm, or attractiveness"; and '' gyat'', a permutation of "Goddamn" that is used in reference to a person with prominent buttocks. Oxford University Press named ''Rizz'' its word of the year for 2023, and ''Gyat'' was nominated for the American Dialect Society's 2023 ''Word of The Year''.

Controversies

2023 Union Square riot

On August 4, 2023, Cenat announced a giveaway of PlayStation 5 consoles and gift cards, in Union Square, Manhattan with Twitch streamer Fanum. Thousands of his followers appeared at the impromptu event, which soon spiraled out of control and devolved into a riot. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) mobilized forces in the area as a large group swarmed a Best Buy and other businesses in the area. Cenat was arrested by the NYPD for inciting civil unrest; police also made 65 other arrests. He was later charged by the NYPD with first-degree rioting, inciting a riot, and unlawful assembly. Later in May 2024, Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg dropped charges against Cenat, Denzel Dennis, and Muktar Din, in exchange for an apology and in restitution.

Max Major

On November 26, 2024, Cenat drew backlash after showing magician Max Major hanging himself as a stunt on his ''Mafiathon 2'' stream. Cenat claims that Major had lied to him and his production team on the details behind the stunt and Major refused to return to the stream to apologize. Cenat also proceeded to ban any future magician acts from his streams. On December 11, Major released a statement on social media, stating that he did not lie to Cenat's team and the stunt had been already cleared by Twitch.

Personal life

Cenat is Catholic.

Awards and nominations

Listicles

Discography

Singles

Guest appearances

Filmography

Film

Music videos

See also

* List of most-subscribed Twitch channels
*List of most-followed Twitch channels
*List of YouTubers

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cenat, Kai
2001 births
Living people
21st-century Roman Catholics
African-American Catholics
African-American media personalities
American gaming YouTubers
American people of Haitian descent
American people of Trinidad and Tobago descent
American Roman Catholics
American twins
American Twitch (service) streamers
American YouTube vloggers
Catholics from New York (state)
English-language YouTube channels
Gaming-related YouTube channels
Prisoners and detainees of New York (state)
Sidemen Charity Match players
Streamer Award winners
Streamy Award winners
YouTube channels launched in 2012
YouTubers from Brooklyn