Kai Cenat has proven himself to be the leader of the pack within the digital content world, as the 23-year-old streaming star landed on the cover of TIME100‘s Creators List.
Released on July 9, Cenat claimed the top spot on the Time100 Creators: Most Influential Digital Voices list for 2025, recognizing the most influential digital voices. Surpassing major names within the “Titans” category like Hot Ones host Sean Evans, MrBeast, and Khaby Lame, Cenat’s reign on Twitch, nonstop brand collaborations, and the momentum from his successful four-day content creator event, Streamer University, cement his place as a standout in the digital world.
“We’re showing people that if you be yourself, people are going to f— with you,” Cenat said during his cover shoot. “As a streamer, you’re not in a box. You’re not trapped. You can talk however you want.”
Since starting his content creation journey in 2018 and joining Twitch amid the global pandemic in 2020, Cenat has become known for streaming much of his life for hours at a time. Though the grind can be exhausting, his passion continues to drive him.
“I’ll be really tired and drained,” he shared. “It’s a mindset thing, though. I can be as physically tired as I want, but in my mind, if I say, ‘Just keep going,’ I’m gonna just keep going.”
Other Black content creators who secured spots on the list include popular food reviewer Keith Lee, Librarian and mental health advocate Mychal Threets, Ghanian food influencer Chef Abbys, and multi-hyphenate Quenlin Blackwell, among others. As digital content continues to shape how audiences, especially young people, consume media, TIME’s Creators list seeks to highlight the leading voices and trailblazers driving this rapidly evolving space.
“Led by changes in consumer behavior, accelerated during the pandemic, digital creators, the entrepreneurs who have built businesses through significant online followings, have emerged to shape our culture,” said Time Editor-In-Chief Sam Jacobs. “They are changing what we watch, how we spend our time, what we buy, and how we vote.”
“Today, we release the inaugural TIME100 Creators list, in recognition of how significantly these individuals are changing the way people inform themselves … As we often say, influence comes in many forms and it can mean for better or for worse.”
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