Roberto Escanio (born August 22, 1997), better known online as Fanum, is a Dominican-American streamer and content creator. Fanum emerged online around 2016. He is known for being the originator of the vernacular "Fanum tax".[2][3] He won "Breakout Streamer of the Year" at the 13th Streamy Awards and the "Best Role Play Streamer" of the year award at the 2023 Streamer Awards and February 2024 Streamer Awards.
| Fanum | ||||||||||
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 Fanum in 2019 | ||||||||||
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| Born | Roberto Escanio August 22, 1997 The Bronx, New York City, U.S. | |||||||||
| Occupations |
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| Website | fanumsupply | |||||||||
| Twitch information | ||||||||||
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| Genres |
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| Followers | 1.9 million | |||||||||
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YouTube information | ||||||||||
| Channel | ||||||||||
| Years active | 2013–present | |||||||||
| Genre | Comedy | |||||||||
| Subscribers | 2.04 million[1] | |||||||||
| Total views | 995 million[1] | |||||||||
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Last updated: March 1, 2024 | ||||||||||
Early life
Fanum was born on August 22, 1997 in The Bronx, New York City to parents of Dominican descent. He has a younger brother who has appeared in his videos.[3] He speaks English and Spanish.[4] After graduating from high school in New York City, Fanum enrolled in college but left mid semester to focus on earning money for his YouTube equipment.[5]
Career
Fanum began streaming on Twitch in November 2016 and made his YouTube channel, JustFanum, in May 2017. He posted his first video in February 2019. He streamed NBA 2K and later expanded to IRL vlogs, which often drew upon his experiences in New York.[6][7]
In March 2023, he won "Best Roleplay Streamer" at the 2023 Streamer Awards.[8] On August 27, 2023 Fanum won "Breakout Streamer of the Year" at the 13th Streamy Awards.[9][10] Fanum has been featured on the music video for Offset's September 2023 single "Fan" alongside Kai Cenat.[11][12]
In February 2024, he won "Best Roleplay Streamer" at the February 2024 Streamer Awards.[13] In June 2024, Fanum appeared as a contestant in the Sidemen reality competition series Inside. The series features 10 guests who compete in challenges to secure a prize fund totalled at £1 million, with everything they buy or do costing money from the prize fund. He was in the show for seven days and finished in 4th place.[14][15] Later in December 2024, he was nominated for "Best Roleplay Streamer" at the December 2024 Streamer Awards.[16]
AMP Group
Fanum is an original and prominent member of the American content collective known as Any Means Possible or AMP. He contributes to the group's collaborative challenge videos. Fanum invited popular streamer Kai Cenat to the AMP group. In August 2023, Kai Cenat was arrested following a meet-and-greet he hosted with Fanum in Union Square Park that resulted in at least 2,000 people crowding the park. The event resulted in property destruction and several injuries. While no charges were placed against Fanum, Cenat was charged with inciting a riot.[6][17]
Fanum Tax
Fanum tax is an Internet slang term describing the theft of food between friends.[18] The first usage of Fanum tax referred exclusively to Fanum, who jokingly "taxed" snacks by taking bites of food from fellow content creators during streams.[3] The term circulated among the YouTube collective AMP in late 2022 and was popularized especially during Fanum's Twitch streams with popular American YouTuber Kai Cenat, where Fanum would take Cenat’s cookies.[19] In an interview with Wired, Fanum defined the term as:
Let's say your friend having a meal, he's having a good meal, and you just want a piece of that meal. Like, you know what I'm saying? You need a share. That's your friend and the friend's share, right? Get you a little piece of the meal. It's the Fanum tax. You just go ahead and just like, lemme get a little bit of 5%, 10% of the meal, maybe 20%.[20]
On October 2, 2023, a TikTok account under the username @ovp.9 posted a short video of a character from the online video game Fortnite "singing" to a musical parody of the 2021 song "ecstacy" by Suicidal-Idol.[21] The parody, titled either "Sticking Out Your Gyat for the Rizzler" or "You're so skibidi, you’re so fanum tax",[22] features multiple internet culture terms including gyat, Skibidi Toilet, rizz and Sigma male. The song was used in many videos on TikTok, inspiring the mass creation of videos featuring Minecraft-inspired games on the platform.[6] The sound was used in over 195,000 videos and amassed over 321 million views on TikTok.[21]
According to Business Insider, many members of Generation Z claim "they were not aware of the meme at all."[23] The New York Times referred to the term as "the language of Gen Alpha."[24]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Network | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Inside | Contestant | YouTube | Series 1; 4th place | [25] |
Awards
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 13th Streamy Awards | Breakout Streamer | Won | [26] |
| The Streamer Awards | Best Roleplay Streamer | Won | [8] | |
| Feb 2024 | Won | [13] | ||
| Dec 2024 | Nominated | [16] |
References
- ^ a b "About FanumLive". YouTube.
- ^ "Fanum Is Your Favorite Celebrity's Favorite Streamer". GQ. November 9, 2023. Archived from the original on December 10, 2023. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
- ^ a b c Singh, Amay (July 30, 2023). "Who is Fanum? Popular AMP-affiliated streamer's online career explored". www.sportskeeda.com. Archived from the original on December 10, 2023. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
- ^ "Fanum Answers The Web's Most Searched Questions". WIRED. Archived from the original on December 14, 2023. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
- ^ "Fanum on Growing Up in The Bronx, Joining AMP, YouTube Hustle & More". Youtube. No Jumper. July 31, 2022. Retrieved February 27, 2024.
- ^ a b c Press-Reynolds, Kieran. "The new Gen Alpha slang 'fanum tax' has even stumped Gen Zers, who worry they're too old to keep up". Insider. Archived from the original on February 24, 2024. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
- ^ "Fanum - Night Talent". Night. Archived from the original on January 29, 2024. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
- ^ a b Snavely, Adam (March 12, 2023). "Streamer Awards 2023: All results and winners for every category". Dot Esports. Archived from the original on March 12, 2023. Retrieved February 6, 2024.
- ^ "MrBeast, Kai Cenat, Dylan Mulvaney win big at 2023 Streamy Awards". CBS News. Archived from the original on February 6, 2024. Retrieved February 6, 2024.
- ^ Tinoco, Armando (August 28, 2023). "Streamy Awards 2023 Complete Winners List: Dylan Mulvaney, MrBeast, Michelle Khare, Dream & Leo González And More". Deadline. Archived from the original on January 28, 2024. Retrieved February 6, 2024.
- ^ Zemler, Emily (September 15, 2023). "Offset Announces New Album 'Set It Off,' Drops Music Video for 'Fan'". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 24, 2023. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
- ^ Duran, Anagricel (September 15, 2023). "Offset announces upcoming LP 'Set It Off' and shares video for 'Fan'". NME. Archived from the original on October 4, 2023. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
- ^ a b Taifalos, Nicholas; Michael, Cale (February 18, 2024). "Streamer Awards 2024: All results and winners for every category". Dot Esports. Archived from the original on February 18, 2024. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
- ^ "Sidemen take on Love Island with £1m YouTube reality show Inside". BBC. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
- ^ Byford, Celine (June 3, 2024). "YouTubers launch new reality show featuring Love Island stars and Made in Chelsea OGs". Reality Tidbit. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
- ^ a b "The 2024 Streamer Awards: All Nominations". Esports Illustrated On SI. November 12, 2024. Retrieved November 12, 2024.
- ^ Mier, Tomás (August 5, 2023). "Streamer Kai Cenat Charged With Inciting a Riot After Chaotic NYC Giveaway". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 10, 2023. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
- ^ Glaze, Virginia (January 22, 2024). "What does 'Fanum Tax' mean? Viral Kai Cenat meme explained". Dexerto. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
- ^ Stanford, Kaitlin (October 17, 2023). "What is 'Fanum tax'? TikTok song of Gen Alpha slang has Gen Z feeling like the new 'cringe' generation". In The Know. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
- ^ "Fanum Tax: The Evolution of Internet Culture Through Gen Alpha's Lexicon". Neon Music. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
- ^ a b Diaz, Ana (October 19, 2023). "'You're so Skibidi, so Fanum tax,' and other fun nonsense, explained". Polygon. Archived from the original on February 24, 2024. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
- ^ Torrefranca, Marielle (January 3, 2024). "WATCH — 3 'skibidi' origin stories you may not know about". CBC Kids. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
- ^ Press-Reynolds, Kieran. "The new Gen Alpha slang 'fanum tax' has even stumped Gen Zers, who worry they're too old to keep up". Business Insider. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
- ^ Kircher, Madison (November 8, 2023). "Gen Alpha Is Here. Can You Understand Their Slang?". The New York Times. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
- ^ Mukherjee, Shreyan. "Sidemen Inside: All confirmed influencers participating in the event revealed". SportsKeeda. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
- ^ "Streamy Awards 2023: Complete Winners List". People. Archived from the original on September 5, 2023. Retrieved February 6, 2024.
