By Billy Mijungu
So, a 20-year-old American doing what many in my generation would casually dismiss as “stupid stuff” on YouTube has managed to attract a massive global following. Not just global Africa-level global. And with an even steeper climb in subscribers right here in Kenya.
I didn’t know who he was. Not even a little.
I only learned of him when my son casually told me he wanted to go see him. He was watching him eat nyama choma at Kenyatta Market. I blurted out, “What? Who is that?” and dismissed it instantly. But my son was glued to the screen the entire time. I ignored it, or so I thought.
Then came the official welcome message from President William Ruto. Then Kenya Wildlife. Then the full tourism frenzy carefully choreographed to shape a narrative and project Magical Kenya to millions of screens across the world. And suddenly, this “kid” was bigger than my indifference.
Rebecca Miano introducing herself as a Cabinet Minister to someone who clearly didn’t care who she was, because he was too busy counting subscribers as they ticked upward in real time. That was the moment it hit me.
The hell?
My generation is gone. The world is new. And we no longer control the attention economy.
So what do I do now? Start paying attention to overgrown cartoons on YouTube? Or quietly accept that my role is to see my generation through to the end while Gen Z takes over the steering wheel?
It was Gen Z frenzy, no doubt. But here’s the twist: Ruto understood it. He leaned into it. He became part of it. And whether we like it or not, that move forced many of us to pay attention. Funnily enough, the opposition were mere outfitters in this moment. They couldn’t pick the bonga points. Life is like that.
I don’t know IShowSpeed. I’m not interested in the antics. I don’t consume that content.
Yet here I am, writing about him.
That alone tells you everything you need to know about how power, influence, and relevance have shifted. Attention is no longer earned through titles, age, or tradition. It is captured, often chaotically, by those who understand the moment they live in.
Whether we approve or not is irrelevant. The world has moved.
And it didn’t ask for permission.
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