N3on Wants to Ditch Clip Farming and Toxic Followers: “It Just Brings You Hate”

N3on’s rise to internet fame is the kind of story that could only happen in the age of streaming. A kid who started gaming for fun, he quickly gained a following and evolved over the years to fit the new changing standards of the industry. With a mix of wild (and controversial) moments, high-energy collaborations, and a relentless grind, he’s built a career that’s seen him go from Twitch to Kick, racking up six-figure live view counts and brushing shoulders with some of the biggest names in the industry. But while some might assume his success was a given, N3on is the first to admit that it wasn’t always easy.

“I feel like I still haven't made it yet,” he tells Complex. “I’ve got a long way to go.” That kind of hunger has kept him pushing forward, even as the streaming world has changed dramatically in the past few years. 

But as much as streaming has opened doors, it’s also come with its own challenges—especially on Kick, the platform he now calls home. “Kick is like the dark web of streaming,” he laughs. “I love Kick, but when you stream on there, you’re set to a certain standard.” That standard, according to N3on, has made it hard for some creators, including himself, to shake certain reputations.

After years of “clip farming” and trolling, he’s been focused on changing how people see him. “It’s a slow grind, but I’m filtering out my community, switching up my content, and doing actual positive things.”

For him, part of that evolution has meant redefining his public persona. Once known for his viral antics and controversy-fueled headlines, he’s been working to reshape his identity. “I realized that clip farming and trolling don’t bring long-term success,” he explains. “It just brings hate.” Instead, he’s built relationships with athletes and industry figures, collaborating in ways that showcase a different side of his personality.

We caught up with N3on to talk about the evolution of streaming over the years, working alongside some of the biggest names in entertainment, and his quest to change his identity online.

(This interview has been edited in length for clarity.)

When was the moment that you realized streaming could be a full-time career for you?

N3on: I would say the moment when I realized that was probably after I came to Kick. I was doing YouTube, Twitch, switched over to Kick, and then I didn't really see any results really. But then, I guess the moment was when I first hit a hundred thousand live views, which was probably the most memorable moment in my career. I first came to LA, I was with my boy, there were a few girls there. We were just doing a stream, and then that's when I realized, ‘Wow, I could really do this.’

Is streaming harder than a 9 to 5?

N3on: Definitely not. I feel like I've said it on stream a year ago when I was just farming for engagement, but the honest truth is it's really not. You get to just pick up the camera, do whatever you want. It's fun. You can go around the world. Everything pays for itself and you get to just experience everything. Nine to five's, you got to put in pain, you got to put in work. Streaming is fun. It is pretty easy.

You've been involved in both gaming and IRL streaming. What has been more rewarding to you and why?

N3on: When I started gaming, it was more just for fun. It really started my career, but it didn't get me to where I wanted to be. Obviously the IRL scene is way bigger. Gaming, in my opinion, is starting to die out. So I was gaming a lot. It was fun, but it just never got me to where I wanted to be. And then right when I switched to IRL, I saw immediate results. It was really fast and honestly, in my opinion, gaming's pretty oversaturated now until ‘GTA 6’ comes out. But until then, if anyone's watching this, start IRL streaming.

You touched on an interesting shift in the streaming community. What are some of the changes you’ve noticed from the early days to where we are now?

N3on:It’s way harder. It's oversaturated. There's so much competition. Everyone's doing new things. Honestly, basically every idea has been done already. You have to just bounce off other people's ideas and make them better. But yeah, it's very hard. Everyone is just elevating their content, doing crazy things. So competition is definitely at an all time high, and you have to be different. At first, you could just be consistent and just do whatever and stream on the desktop and do whatever. But now you have to actually sit there planning your content, do crazy projects and really lock in. Even a year ago is a lot easier than what it is now.

What’s been your biggest “I made it moment” in your career so far? 

N3on: I feel like I still haven't made it yet. I’ve got a long way to go. I feel like I can really, really keep going and elevating myself, in my opinion. I mean, obviously I'm so blessed to be where I'm at, but I feel like I still haven't really made it.

Just the other day, LaVar Ball, after he got his foot amputated, posted a video shouting you out; he called you the fourth Ball brother.

N3on: Shout out to LaVar, man.

Can you talk about y'all's relationship a little bit more?

N3on: Oh, I don't have a relationship with LaVar at all, but I want to do a collab one day. He seems like a very cool guy.

So you and LaVar never met yet?

N3on: No, I've never spoken to him. Maybe in the near future, a stream, but yeah, I've never talked to him.

Who is one creator that you'd love to stream with but haven't yet?

N3on: If I had to pick a streamer that I'd want to stream with, I feel like I've streamed with a lot of people, but my content's mainly athletes and just other stuff like that. But I would say Speed because he fits in with our personalities. They would work out really well together. I've done some stuff with him on Discord, but we never actually met in person and done anything in person, but it would be cool.

You've obviously started to tap into a lot of different fields. You mentioned athletes, you've worked with artists. How did you find that lane and where do you see it going?

N3on: So honestly, before my content was just like I was just on the streets messing around, trolling people, just farming what I could. But then I realized that's not what brings you long-term success. It just brings you hate. It doesn't get me to where I want to be. So I started just tapping into just hitting up UFC fighters, NBA players, NFL players, boxers. That was always my passion as a kid, especially basketball. But yeah, really just doing that and then tapping into other things where people will see a different side of me, not just a side of me that's just trolling, messing around and just being like a jackass.

Would you say that clip farming and trolling is just an image?

N3on: Yeah. And when you do it so much, it starts to become what people really think about you, and then it's hard to change people's minds, but enough, once you stir it in their head that you're really not that person, you're changing whatever, then you see a big difference.

I feel like Adin Ross is doing something similar, but he’s been open about his struggles distancing himself from his core audience who’s like that. 

N3on: Yeah, he has a very toxic community. I feel like anyone who streams on Kick, they're immediately associated with being a certain type of person. It's like the dark web of streaming. I love Kick, but it's just like when you stream on there, you're set to a certain standard that it's different if you're streaming on Twitch, if you're streaming on YouTube, all those other platforms. So it's definitely harder for us, but I'm trying

Have you noticed a similar struggle in turning a new leaf? 

N3on: Yeah, it's a slow grind, but it all starts from your community, especially on Kick. The community is very toxic, so moderating it out, fixing it, growing it, because at one point I had a very toxic community just full of straight up, I'll be honest, they're stalkers. They’re crazy, but moderating out, filtering it out, doing actual good positive things, doing good content. I was just internationally doing some cool stuff, helping, giving people, giving back, showing a bunch of cool things, and switching up my conten,t and moderating the communities, helping me a lot to just switch my ways.

You mentioned some of your fans are toxic. Would you say that this is an identity that you're trying to shed?

N3on: Oh yeah, for sure, for sure. Like I said, it's cool in the moment. It's fun, it's funny for a second, but then it leads to absolutely nothing. It doesn't get you far, and it's not good energy to be around. All these people are just so angry and so mad at the world, and they go for everyone. If you do a stream with certain people that are just trash-talking to them, it is just something I don't want to be around, and I'm slowly trying to grow it and just fix it to be honest.

If you could swap streaming careers with anyone for a day, who would it be and why?

N3on: Shit. Who has a fun life? Oh, man. I would say my life is pretty interesting. I don't know, am I glazing if I give an answer, swap lives with anyone?

Is there any streamer that you admire like, ‘Oh shit, I like their content?’

N3on: Shit, bro. Honestly, xQc, bro, but I'm not admiring, he just sits back and makes millions, tens of millions. Shit. Seems like a good life.

Who do you think are some of the rising streamers today that you are tapped into and other people should be watching?

N3on: Rising streamers? Bro, believe it or not, I don't watch streams at all. I would say the FaZe people before that, but they're going crazy now. But rising streamers? I feel like, I honestly don't know, bro. It's hard for me to sit down and watch a stream. I'm very low attention span, so I just scroll and see on TikTok, but it's a lot of everyone doing the same thing. That's one thing I will say. So it is definitely, I feel like it’s hardest now for people to grow in general, unless you're doing some crazy things, unless you're getting put on doing big collabs. If you're just by yourself doing streams, it's pretty hard.

Do you have any advice to people who are aspiring to be a streamer?

N3on: Lemme look you all straight in the eyes for this one. Honestly, like I said, it's don't be demotivated. There's a lot of people doing it. It is very hard. That's just the honest truth right now. It is hard, but you have to be different. Obviously, you have to be consistent, but people say consistency matters, but if you're consistently streaming bullshit, it doesn't matter. I tried that. It doesn't work out. It's more just about quality. You have to do big things. You have to invest money in it, even if you don't have the most money. Invest into your craft, invest into what you want to do. Work hard and yeah, honestly, just look at what other people are doing, the bigger streamers and just find out what they're doing and what worked well and then just copy it, but do it better. Twist it up in your own way and just be different.

One incentive I know a lot of people have for this career is that it’s very lucrative. You make a lot of money. What’s the most amount of money you've made in a single stream?

N3on: $20, $30, $40 around there. Nothing crazy, man. I don't have a lot of money. Look at what I'm wearing, bro. But yeah, bro, a lot of my money just goes back into content, into my clippers, into IRL expenses because IRL streaming adds up, so my margins aren't crazy. I don't have $50 million. But yeah, a lot of my money goes back into streaming. Before, when I first came to LA, I was buying designer stuff, being an idiot, but now I just, bro, whatever I shop at Target, bro. I don't really care anymore at this point. None of that stuff matters. Just what really matters is investing into myself. So whatever builds the brand, I just, shit, put it right back in.

If Twitch made you a crazy offer to come back, would you entertain it?

N3on: I'm never closed-minded with anything. Twitch is obviously the biggest platform in the world. I'm so grateful for what Kick has done, but whatever happens, happens, at the end of the day, you got to do what's best for you. But I love Kick, I love Twitch, shit. Who knows?

Wherever the money calls?

N3on: Not even the money because I don't care about the money. I just care about growing my brand. I know I have so much left in me, so no matter what, they give me millions of dollars, whatever it is. If I feel like I have a better opportunity somewhere and I could still fund what I need to do for my streams, I'm taking it.

Was there ever a moment when you thought about quitting streaming altogether?

N3on: I actually quit for over a year, and then that's when Adin [Ross] brought me and he put me in front of [Andrew] Tate, put me in front of all these people, and started just putting me on basically. I wasn't going to come back to streaming. I was waking up every morning, seven, 8:00 AM doing stocks with my boy, and I was coming up with a lot of money, and I lost it all in four days. I was like, damn. And I was just sitting in bed, not doing shit, literally sleeping at like 5:00 AM waking up at four, 3:00 PM just being a lazy bum. And he really helped me, elevated me, and put me to where I wanted to be.

A lot of people say Kick is the wild, wild west of streaming. Would you agree?

N3on: Yeah, it definitely is. They're doing better on their moderation and stuff, but it definitely came in on a wrong foot, and everyone looks at Kick as like, oh, all the retired streamers go here. But it's crazy because on Kick, I went from averaging 500 to a thousand views to, at one point, a hundred thousand. So it was, I dunno, Kick's been a big, big thing for me, and I just feel like it is looked on bad, and it is harder to grow, but I can never say anything bad because that's my home. They show me so much love.

You've been a part of a lot of internet drama to put it lightly.

N3on: Oh yeah.

Do you think that type of controversy helps or hurts you?

N3on: Definitely hurts because, like I said, it's short-term views. Your name will be in the headlines and stuff, but then it makes people alter what they think. It makes people think of you in a certain way, and these past few months have just fully stayed out of drama. No drama, just straight-up good streams. And I've noticed such a big difference within just a few months. It's crazy. And shout out to my clippers; they're just pushing a good narrative, finally. God dammit, bro. It's been a minute, but yeah, it's finally starting to change.

Is there a moment from your career that you look back on it and wish you could redo it?

N3on: You see? I would say yes, but I feel like everything happens for a reason. Everything's put me to where I am now and it's going to keep building me up to where I want to be. I don't feel like I would change anything. Obviously, I've done a lot of dumb things. I've been in a lot of dramas and all this stuff, but it's all brought me to where I'm at, so I would not change it. I mean, obviously, there's some mistakes I've made, obviously maybe some beefs, some people I've talked shit to, I would take it back. But I mean, I feel like if I didn't do it, I wouldn't have learned and at least realize what I've done is wrong. So honestly, whatever happened happened.

What is a misconception people have about you as a streamer that you'd love to clear up?

N3on: Probably that some people just see clips and out-of-context stuff and just see me as an evil, crazy person but deep inside, shit, if you walk up to me in person, off camera, you ask anyone. I'm a good guy. I don't want to cause harm to anyone. I'm just here to make content. I'm not here to harass anyone, talk shit to anyone, violate anyone. If I've done it in the past, obviously, I didn't mean it, but I could see how it's looked at in a certain way. That's why I fully stopped–or I'm trying to stop. But yeah, man, if they look at me in a certain way, it's not as it seems. The internet is very, very, very altered. You got to just see who they really are. Shit like this. They could actually see interviews.

Where do you see yourself in five years? Do you see yourself continuing to be a streamer or are there other lanes that you want to explore?

N3on: The crazy thing about me is I have no plan. I don't know what my plan is for tomorrow. So, shit, in three years I could be in–I don't know, bro, I have no clue. I just feel like I'm better with the flow. Like, oh, this dude hit me up. Oh, let's take a flight there, go to that stream. But streaming and YouTube-wise, I want to tap more into YouTube streaming. I'm going to continue to stream as long as I can fucking walk on my two feet. And even if I can't walk, I'll hop in a wheelchair. But as long as I can, as long as I have it in me, the energy in me, once I lose the energy and I lose the passion, I'm not going to force it. But I'm probably more ready than ever. So I'm chilling for now.