In an era where traditional television struggles to capture young audiences, 22-year-old Semaj Coleman — better known as Whiteboymaj — has cracked the code. His solution? Strip away the editing, eliminate the time delays, and let viewers watch drama unfold in real time.
Coleman’s “The Messy Maj Show” has become a phenomenon on the streaming platform Kick, where his seven-day reality series pulls an average of 91,000 watch hours daily. The format is deceptively simple: cast members live together in a house while thousands of viewers tune in to watch their unfiltered interactions, confessional room revelations, and inevitable conflicts — all broadcast live, 24/7.
What started as a one-man operation inspired by childhood memories of “Big Brother Celebrity” has evolved into a full production with international crew members and a growing roster of cast members who’ve seen their own followings explode. Some participants who entered Season 1 with 7,000 TikTok followers left with 30,000, transforming Coleman’s experiment into a legitimate launching pad for digital careers.
The stakes are real, and so are the challenges. Unlike traditional reality TV, there’s no safety net of post-production. When viewers order pizzas to the house or cast members get too rowdy, Coleman can’t simply edit it out. It’s this raw authenticity — combined with Coleman’s infectious energy and commitment to uplifting others — that has resonated with a generation raised on carefully curated content.
As he wraps Season 2 and plans for a permanent “Messy Maj House” headquarters, Coleman represents a new breed of entertainment entrepreneur: one who understands that today’s audiences don’t just want to watch the show — they want to be part of it.
What is it about streaming that is so attractive to your generation?
I think that what it is with streaming nowadays is that a lot of people like the real-time engagement, and especially that you can have that connection with the viewers when it’s live time. I think that is more of them feeling like they’re with you than it being like edited, and fixed around when it comes to certain things being cut out and cut in. I think that some people like the fact that they’re able to see it from start to finish, with no editing, just raw, uncut footage.
What inspired you to take the traditional reality TV format and bring it to the live streaming space with The Messy Maj Show?
So honestly, my inspo, I would think, would be “Big Brother Celebrity.” I used to watch it as a child, and things like that. And I know that it’s not really like big over in the US. So I think that being able to have a platform to create something so big and powerful to bring people entertainment while sitting at home just for free, with no ads, I think honestly it’s just entertaining to watch, and I think that I will definitely continuously do it as long as I get the support from Kick and other people in general. So honestly, I’m grateful to be doing this.
Why did you choose Kick as the exclusive platform for Season 2, and how has it supported your vision?
The reason why I choose the platform Kick was because Kick was the only platform that honestly seen potential into me. They reached out to me. They even offer me with the Kick deals and things like that, and even had great beliefs that this will honestly be something big, and it takes time for it to become something bigger than what it is as of now. But their support is no other than like any platform.
I honestly think that Kick has one of the best support systems. Like they support all creators, whether you have a thousand followers, whether you have 2,000. Their support is A1, and I admire that truthfully, and honestly if they’re willing to support me, I’m willing to support them on their platform, so Kick all day.
Season 1 turned everyday personalities into viral stars. What did you learn from that first run that shaped how you approached Season 2?
What I learned was that I cannot do everything by myself. So, this season I ended up getting a production team. Whether it was friends, whether it was family, I honestly got more help on hand. We even had people fly from out of America coming to America to help with this project and things like that.
Honestly, I think that what I learned was just making sure that, if I’m capable of getting help, get it. Try not to do everything by yourself. Season 1, I was doing all the camera swapping by myself. I was connecting the cameras by myself. I was doing everything literally by myself. I believe this season definitely was 10 times better due to the fact that I had more help on hand.
You’re producing a seven-day live stream reality show. What are some of the big behind-the-scenes challenges?
So, one of the hard things that I could say about it is that sometimes the crowd doesn’t seem to listen. So, sometimes it could come off frustrating to me because it’s like, “Okay, y’all, we can’t edit this out because we’re on live stream. So, you guys have to like simmer it down. Let’s get everybody intact. Let’s also be with the dialogue. We just can’t scream, yell, and shout and things like that.”
Sometimes the cast typically they get a little excited. But I know what I’m signing up for. So, my patience really, really [has] to be high with these individuals. But not only that, I never knew that this would be a thing, but now, this season we’re definitely having a lot of people trolling, so far as like ordering pizzas to the house and things like that. So I guess Airbnb is … well, it’s not that they’re allowing anything.
It’s just the simple fact that they can go in the app and look at what house we’re at, and look at the background and things like that, and try to simply find the address and order pizzas and just interrupt the stream in general.
I found out that maybe my solution to that problem is just renting out actual house, maybe like a house in Houston or some sort, and filming the shows there so that we don’t have to worry about spending money on Airbnbs. At least I’ll have this house for 30 days, so maybe we could do longer streams instead of seven days now.
You’ve introduced traditional TV elements like the confessional room this season. How does that enhance storytelling and viewer engagement?
Honestly, I think that the confessional room was honestly one of the fans’ favorite. It was a place where they can go there any time of the day to express how they feel amongst others in the house, and not only others, including me as well. I think that this season was more freely for them to go there, and just express everything amongst the show. So, honestly, I think that the confessional room was honestly W. Never … I don’t think I’ve seen anyone do that on live stream yet.
What do you think The Messy Maj Show says about where live stream entertainment is heading?
I feel like it brings out the old entertainment. We don’t really get old TV shows like how we used to anymore. It’s not really content that’s being pushed out there to give other people a platform. And I think that what it is is that I’m happy to give other people a way to eat, a way to feed their family, a way to even be seen, so that they can start doing what I’m doing as of right now.
That’s the whole motive of The Messy Maj Show: whether you’re messy, whether you could bring a platform, whether you’re consistent, bring something to the table, and also leave with more that you brought to the table. And I just love the fact that each person that I brought onto the show… I believe Season 1, we had a couple of people that started off with 7,000 followers on TikTok. Now they’re at 30K on TikTok.
It’s just like that, right there is the whole point of The Messy Maj Show. Bring what you can bring, but also give it your all, and leave what you can take. Honestly, I’m proud of my whole cast, like truth being told, because I never thought in a million years that I can ever be able to uplift someone else’s platform. And now look at me like I’m able to do so.
Honestly, I slept on myself for many years since I was like what, 19, 20. And now I’m 22, and I’m actually doing what I honestly wanted to do for all these years.
What do you think makes a successful streamer?
Consistency, and the only reason why I say that is because it doesn’t matter if you pull five views, three views, two views. As long as you’re upping your content and you’re giving it your all, people are going to watch the success. People are going to sit there and support how much you put into it. A person loves to watch what you start from, and what you can finish at. And honestly, that would be my only advice.
Make sure that if you do something, be the best at it. Be the best at it. Never feel discouraged because you see someone else having a thousand views, and you’re only on five. It can be you soon. You just have to be willing to put the time in, and time is limited, yes, but at the end of the day we’re still young, and we all will get where we need to be as long as you put in that hard work. I don’t care if it took 10 months.
As long as you’re putting in that work every day, every second, every minute, people are going to be attracted by that honestly. So I say, consistency, hard work, and dedication.
How can people find you and The Messy Maj Show?
So, you can find me on Kick at White Boy Maj. You can also find me on Instagram @whiteboymaj. I have a platform on BeGo, goxmaj. I have a million followers on TikTok, you can also look me up @whiteboymaj. And other than that, I believe that’s everything I use.
