The Rise Of Kai Cenat
May 22, 2024
Streamers like Kai Cenat have become well-known names in the music business because of their ability to give musicians a platform
By Brandon Byrd
During an Instagram Live session with Nicki Minaj, Twitch sensation Kai Cenat dropped a bombshell: he was heading to jail. Curiosity piqued, Nicki inquired, “Why are you going to jail?” Cenat’s cryptic response — “Seven days, it’s crazy” — left fans scratching their heads, wondering if this was another one of his outlandish jokes. The next day, a trailer was uploaded to his YouTube channel, teasing a seven-day livestream event. In an audacious move, Cenat planned to voluntarily subject himself to a simulated prison experience, alongside internet celebrities and ex-convicts.
As bewildering as it sounded, the concept became a reality, capturing the attention of millions. The seven-day streaming marathon drew a staggering 3.8 million viewers total. It was a spectacle like no other, proving once again that in the world of online entertainment, anything is possible. Similar to your favorite TV show, these streamers have changed the realities of live entertainment attracting a massive audience to twitch, an app that was meant for gaming but became the forefront of an entertainment revolution.
Let’s rewind for a moment. For those wondering, “Who is Kai Cenat?” or “What is Twitch?” and perhaps even, “Why should anyone care?” — here’s the scoop. Kai Cenat, a 22-year-old content creator, has surged into the limelight over the past few years. Hailing from the Bronx, his journey in the realm of social media commenced on YouTube, creating simple videos like “EATING THE WORLD’S HOTTEST PEPPER CHALLENGE” or “THINGS WE HATE ABOUT SCHOOL!!“. Eventually, he joined a rising collective of creatives known as “Any Means Possible” or AMP for short. Together, they swiftly climbed the ranks of YouTube stardom with their unique content and captivating personas.
When they ventured onto the streaming platform, Twitch, Kai’s star truly began to shine. Initially, his foray into Twitch was fairly conventional — reacting to viral YouTube videos of the day. But as they became more and more experienced, Kai and AMP unleashed their creativity, pushing boundaries and pioneering new forms of content. Once the group ventured onto the streaming platform Twitch, Kai’s ascent to stardom skyrocketed. From somehow getting his hands on a functional Iron Man suit to live-streaming escapades in Japan, and even staging firework wars within their own home, Kai Cenat and the rest of AMP relentlessly pushed the boundaries of streaming to new heights.
HotNewHipHop reported that Kai’s net worth was estimated $14 million in April 2024 and according to Forbes, the influential streamer earned $4.6 million as a top content creator in 2023.
But where did Twitch even come from? In 2006, four friends began working to put together a 24/7 documentary of their friend’s life. It became what we now know as Twitch in 2011, being bought by Amazon for $970 million in 2014. Since then, the platform has blossomed into a space that hosts over 140 million monthly users and has led the charge of the “streaming” medium.
Twitch has given rise to a diverse array of voices and perspectives, allowing niche communities to thrive and foster a sense of belonging. This daring experiment pushed the boundaries of this new form of entertainment marking the advent of high-production live experiences but never to the same extent that we see in Kai’s streams.
Twitch has redefined “fame” and “celebrity.” When you hear the word celebrity, you usually would think of actors, musicians, or athletes first but these days, streamers like Cenat have millions of devoted fans and lucrative sponsorship deals, based on their authenticity and connection to their audience. The distinction between traditional and digital media has become more unclear as a result of these changes, undermining the power of established entertainment organizations and opening the door for new kinds of celebrity.
“When I go live on any social media platform people always join but Twitch took it to another level.” influencer Mckenzie Taylor said; and it’s safe to say that it absolutely has, with Twitch streamer, QTCinderella going as far as to even create an award show called The Streamer Awards to celebrate the accomplishments of streamers from communities across the platform
There is some confusion regarding the term “streaming” because of its use for multiple tech related concepts. Unlike TV streaming, this medium revolves around content creators doing any number of activities live, including but not limited to playing video games, hosting watch parties or simply having interesting conversations with their viewers. Streaming is also not limited to Twitch. Youtube, the video uploading platform, has had a streaming feature for years and was what many would consider Twitch’s main competition up until two new competitors entered the market.
Kick and Rumble are two primary players in the streaming game. The evolution of companies like Kick came from creators branching off away from Twitch due to restrictions on the vulgarity of content. The live streaming market is becoming more competitive as a result of the emergence of these new businesses. With their distinctive features and offerings, Kick and Rumble draw producers and viewers to their platforms, but Twitch is under growing pressure to stay ahead of the competition and innovate in order to hold its top spot in the live streaming market. Twitch may improve its current capabilities, add new tools for creators, and better the entire viewing experience as a result of this competitive climate.
Twitch streamers like Kai Cenat have also become well-known names in the music business because of their ability to give musicians a platform to run creative promotional campaigns to his loyal viewers on stream and anyone else who may see clips of the stream through social media. Radio play, music videos, and live performances were the mainstays of music promotion in the past. But with the growth of online communities like Twitch, artists now have another way to interact with fans and present their work.
“It’s the new talk show,” Anthony Pisano, CEO and founder of Game Over Entertainment says.
It may feel like this new medium came out of nowhere but marketing agencies like the one Pisano started have been monitoring its growth from the start.
“We’ve been using AI social listening tools to actually capture all that data. That’s what we did for the Tyla and Kai Cenat stream” (which garnered 150 thousand live viewers) Pisano explained.
“When these artists go on these streams the amount of [user generated content] that’s created just naturally is honestly insane and I don’t think there’s a bigger way of doing an album rollout or a single rollout than getting onto Kai’s stream,”
The loyalty that these streamers have garnered through their fan bases provide musicians with a platform to connect with new listeners and generate excitement about their music. Artists who have streamed with Kai Cenat include Nicki Minaj, Offset, Ice Spice, and Lil Uzi Vert.
Knowing all of this background and understanding of just how much global impact Cenat and the new medium of streaming has on the youth, it may be easier to comprehend why the jail stream may have caused backlash from the general public. While Twitch streaming as a whole has been changing the game for content creation, Cenat’s prison stream is the first time we have seen high-production, television-like content on streaming platforms, giving us a clear example of how the medium is already beginning to replace older forms of media such as radio and television for younger audiences. But for the stream that revolutionizes the media landscape to feature Black men in jail seemingly having a good time? It was bound to catch the public’s attention.
To be clear, Cenat has been a part of several controversies, the most publicly known one being what authorities called a “riot” in New York in which his supporters of Cenat’s swarmed Union Square park for a video game console giveaway.
But the most complicated of them all is without a doubt the one that revolves around such a serious topic for many: the prison industrial complex.
“ – a teenager with the biggest platform in the world right now is glamorizing the prison system to Black and Brown children and people are defending him because prison shows exist on A&E” ‘X’ user @LITsauce says in response to Cenat’s stream.
https://x.com/LITsauce/status/1718979589911843035
For many that same argument was used as defense of Kai’s actions. Cohosts of the former rapper turned podcaster Joe Budden noted that what Kai Cenat is doing could be likened to content already out there, such as comedy movies about prison like Life starring Martin Lawrence and Eddie Murphy or hip-hop music that contains violent subject matter.
“Where do we draw the line between what Kai Cenat is doing [and] what some of your favorite artists are doing [in] music? There’s no difference.” Ice asked in response to the criticism.
Cenat took a different approach in his defense, telling Wallo and Gillie, cohosts of the MILLION DOLLAZ WORTH OF GAME podcast:
“A lot of people who watched that, they seen the funny clips — and some people kind of criticized it but those same people didn’t take the effort to actually sit there and just watch one day of it”.
The streamer goes on to reference the Beyond Scared Straight-esque segment that occurred during one day of the stream in which kids who had been misbehaving were brought into the “prison” so Cenat and the rest of the crew could convince them that if they continue their behavior their life will look much worse than the simulated set makes prison look.
“I can’t imagine myself in jail and I don’t even wanna imagine myself in jail cause that sh** is the most serious sh** ever” Cenat continued as he explained that glorifying the experience was never his intention.
Cenat left the controversy relatively unscathed but some have argued that his defense of the stream wasn’t enough. Promoting jail to an audience of impressionable Black and brown kids will never be redeemable to some when the Black community still has the highest incarceration rate in the country.
But why does this all matter? Many will look at what Kai does and see it as inconsequential, dumb fun being had by young people. All of that goes out of the window when you see the reach and influence he has had on the culture. Affecting the way the youth speaks, specifically by popularizing the word “rizz”, which was named word of the year in 2023 by Oxford University Press, cultivating live experiences that get the culture talking like his recent trip to Jamaica which sparked uproar about cultural appropriation, and playing an incredibly important role in the way music is consumed is enough to display how much of an impact the streamer has had in his short time on the internet.
Even within Twitch as a platform, Cenat has marked a change. After being a consistently whit-dominated platform, Kai has undoubtedly made his mark winning “Streamer of the year” at the Streamer Awards three straight times from 2022–2024 and breaking the subscriber record during a 30-day subathon, paving a way for Black content creators to create their own community and see that taking over yet another field that was not made for us is possible.
We are all new to this new age of media, so fully grasping what this means for the culture is understandably hard to do but suggesting that this form of entertainment can be what iconic TV shows like Martin, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, A Different World and so many more have been to other generations does not feel like a stretch. In fact calling what Cenat does on a daily basis the modern day Chapelle Show couldn’t be more spot-on. Whether you find him entertaining or not, Kai Cenat and the new era of media we have entered into are here to stay and it’s safe to say that it will leave a lasting impression on the culture when it’s gone.
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