About

Rakai Reading A Book, also known simply as Rakai Reading Meme, refers to a viral video of YouTuber and Twitch streamer Rakai (2xRaKai) attempting to read a book out loud during a livestream in January 2026. The clip gained traction across various social media platforms in early 2026, particularly TikTok, where it was subsequently mocked and parodied, including recreations within the Accuracy Reenactments trend.

Rakai Reading is closely related to the Performative Kai Cenat meme and event, which Rakai was supposedly inspired by in the original clip. Stills of Rakai reading and yelling at the book also saw use in memes, such as variants using the original as an exploitable and altering it or simply using it as a reaction image, especially as a TikTok sticker in comment sections. Redraws recreating the scene with pop culture characters have also been created referencing the image.

Origin

Sometime in mid-January 2026, YouTuber and streamer Rakai began reading books on his Twitch streams, inspired by fellow streamer Kai Cenat, usually, in a loud and stilted manner.

During one of these, Rakai is seen reading loudly from a green book with yellow pages (Something's Off by Virgil Abloh that documents his 2016 Nike "The Ten" sneaker collab). A reupload of the stream moment then appeared on the YouTube channel StreamGotClip, on January 14th, 2026, titled "Rakai Reads A Book To Help Him Speak Like Kai Cenat," garnering over 21,200 views, 420 likes and 80 comments in roughly three months (reupload shown below).

Also on January 14th, 2026, TikTok^[1] user @toptierlives posted the clip of Rakai, seemingly with great difficulty, reading on the same stream. The video received 13.7 million views and 1.1 million likes in less than three months.

Spread

As clips of the stream spread in early 2026, TikTok users began reenacting the video in Accuracy Reenactments and other skits.

For instance, on January 17th, 2026, TikTok^[2] user @ammiroseee posted a video mimicking Rakai's loud and aggressive reading style, which received 7.6 million views and 1.1 million likes in less than three months.

On January 19th, 2026, TikTok^[3] user @reven.exe_ posted an edited version with the clip, accompanied by the caption, "0.67 GPA 'street smart' mf the moment they are asked to read in class." The video received over 5.8 million views and 903,100 likes in less than three months.

On January 23rd, an edit of the meme was uploaded to YouTube^[4] by user My ears hurts, garnering over 32,000 views, 1,400 likes and 60 comments in two months.

On January 28th, 2026, YouTuber^[5] gato hacker uploaded a Plants vs. Zombies edit of the meme, altering Rakai into a peashooter from the game. The video received over 10,000 views, 700 likes and 30 comments in two months.

Various Examples

Templates / Green Screen

Search Interest

External References