Kai Cenat

Kai Carlo Cenat III (born December 16, 2001) is an American online streamer and YouTuber. He is best known for his live streams and comedy-based content he uploads on YouTube. He is currently the fifth most-followed Twitch streamer with 12.2 million followers and all-time most-subscribed Twitch streamer, surpassing Ludwig Ahgren's record during a February 2023 subathon. He was named "Streamer of the Year" at the 2023 and 2024 Streamer Awards.

Early life and education
Cenat was born to parents from the Caribbean; a mother from Trinidad and Tobago and a father from Haiti. Becoming estranged from his father, 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 then attended the State University of New York at Morrisville in August 27, 2019, to study Business Administration. He eventually dropped out in 2020 due to the struggle of keeping up with schoolwork and content creation.

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 (Any Means Possible) 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, 2022, Cenat released his debut single "Bustdown Rollie Avalanche" with NLE Choppa. Cenat had an acting role in the trailer for Polo G's June 2022 single "Distraction".

In October 2022, Cenat was nominated for the 12th Streamy Awards in the "Streamer of the Year" and "Breakout Streamer" categories,  winning the former in December.

2023: Subathon and controversy
On January 31, 2023, Cenat began a month-long subathon. On February 28, 2023, he became the most-subscribed Twitch streamer of all time, reaching 306,621 subscribers at its peak.

In March 2023, 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, 2023, Cenat won "Streamer of the Year" at the 2023 Streamer Awards.

On April 17, 2023, Cenat was temporarily suspended on Twitch for reasons undisclosed, though he eventually returned, with him initially noting it as a permanent ban in error. In May 2023, Cenat announced a livestreamed show with IShowSpeed exclusively on Rumble, titled the Kai 'N Speed Show.

In September 2023, 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 December 14, 2023 Nicki Minaj appeared on Cenat's stream which broke his previous peak viewership record by 40,000 resulting in 348,593 concurrent viewers.

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 US$57000 in restitution.

2024–present: Continued growth
On February 8, 2024 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, 2024, Cenat won "Streamer of the Year" and "Best Just Chatting Streamer" at the 2024 Streamer Awards. He was also nominated for "Best Streamed Event" at the same ceremony.

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.