Kai Cenat | ||||||||||
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Personal information | ||||||||||
Born | Kai Carlo Cenat III [1] December 16, 2001 New York City, U.S. | |||||||||
Education | State University of New York at Morrisville (dropped out) | |||||||||
Occupations |
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Website | kaicenat | |||||||||
Twitch information | ||||||||||
Also known as | KC3 | |||||||||
Channel | ||||||||||
Years active | 2021–present | |||||||||
Genres |
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Games | GTA Online [2] | |||||||||
Followers | 10.5 million | |||||||||
Associated acts |
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YouTube information | ||||||||||
Channel | ||||||||||
Years active | 2018–present | |||||||||
Genre | Comedy | |||||||||
Subscribers | 5.69 million [3] | |||||||||
Total views | 351 million [3] | |||||||||
Associated acts | AMP (Any Means Possible) | |||||||||
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Last updated: May 27, 2024 |
Kai Carlo Cenat III ( /ˈkaɪsɪˈnæt/ KY sin-AT; 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 all-time most-subscribed Twitch streamer and the 10th most followed Twitch streamer with approximately nine million followers, surpassing Ludwig Ahgren's record during a February 2023 subathon. [lower-alpha 1] [4] [5] He was named "Streamer of the Year" at the 2023 and 2024 Streamer Awards. [6]
Cenat was born to parents from the Caribbean; a mother from Trinidad and Tobago and a father from Haiti. [7] [8] [9] Becoming estranged from his father, Cenat was raised by his mother along with his three other siblings, a twin sister named Kaiya, [10] an older brother named Devonte, [11] and a younger brother named Kaleel. [9] [12]
Cenat attended Frederick Douglass Academy for his secondary education. He graduated high school in 2019 [13] and then attended the State University of New York at Morrisville in August 27, 2019, [14] [15] to study Business Administration. He eventually dropped out in 2020 [16] due to the struggle of keeping up with schoolwork and content creation. [17] [18]
Cenat uploaded his first YouTube video on January 13, 2018, [19] and began making videos surrounding pranks and challenges. [20] 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. [21] [22]
Cenat had an acting role in the trailer for Polo G's June 2022 single "Distraction". [23] On May 8, 2022, Cenat released his debut single "Bustdown Rollie Avalanche" with NLE Choppa.
In 2022, Cenat began including celebrity guests on his streams, including Bobby Shmurda in April, [24] 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. [25]
In October 2022, Cenat was nominated for the 12th Streamy Awards in the "Streamer of the Year" and "Breakout Streamer" categories, [26] [27] [28] winning the former in December. [29]
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. [30] On March 11, 2023, Cenat won "Streamer of the Year" at the 12th Streamer Awards. [31]
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. [32]
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. [33]
In May 2023, Cenat announced a livestreamed show with IShowSpeed exclusively on Rumble, titled the Kai 'N Speed Show. [34]
In September 2023, Cenat was featured on the music video for Offset's single "Fan" alongside Fanum. [35] [36] In the following month, he made his music video directorial debut with American rapper a Boogie wit da Hoodie. [37]
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. [38] [39]
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. [40] [41]
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. [42] Cenat was arrested by the NYPD for inciting civil unrest; police also made 65 other arrests. [43] [44] [45] He was later charged by the NYPD with first-degree rioting, inciting a riot, and unlawful assembly. [45] 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$57,000 in restitution. [46]
Cenat is credited with popularizing viral internet slang words such as Rizz , which is derived from "charisma" and defined as "style, charm, or attractiveness"; [47] [48] 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, [49] and Gyat was nominated for the American Dialect Society's 2023 Word of The Year. [50] [51]
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominated Work | Result | Ref. |
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2022 | 12th Streamy Awards | Streamer of the Year | Himself | Won | [28] |
Breakout Streamer | Nominated | ||||
2023 | The Streamer Awards | Streamer of the Year | Won | [52] | |
The Esports Awards | Streamer of the Year | Nominated | [53] | ||
2024 | The Streamer Awards | Streamer of the Year | Won | [54] | |
Best Just Chatting Streamer | Won | ||||
Best Streamed Event | 7 Days In | Nominated | |||
Title | Year | Album |
---|---|---|
"Bustdown Rollie Avalanche" (featuring NLE Choppa) | 2022 | Non-album single |
"Dogs" [55] (with IShowSpeed) | 2023 | Non-album single |
Title | Year | Other artist(s) | Album |
---|---|---|---|
"The End of the Road Begins - Intro" [56] | 2023 | — | Fast X (Official Motion Picture Soundtrack) |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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2023 | Good Burger 2 | Disgruntled Customer | Guest appearance |
Year | Title | Artist(s) | Role |
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2020 | "Shoot" | Adot | Himself |
2022 | "Distraction" | Polo G | |
"Just Wanna Rock" | Lil Uzi Vert | ||
"Plenty" | FaZe Kaysan feat. Nardo Wick, G Herbo, Babyface Ray & BIG30 | ||
2023 | "Fan" | Offset |
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