Kevin Samuels

About

Kevin Samuels is a YouTuber and self-proclaimed relationship guru whose views on Black men, Black women and African-American dating life, in general, have led to controversy since he joined YouTube in 2015. His identity as a life coach coupled with expensive taste has led to associations with hustle culture and cringe in regards to memes and reactions. In early 2022, rumors of his death surfaced online, resulting in him trending on platforms like Twitter.

Background

Kevin Samuels grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, and after higher education, he went into a career in advertising and marketing.^[1] In 2013, he gained traction in suit tailoring, harking on his fashion sense that he's carried on to the present day. This gave him access to the title, "Image Consultant," meaning a consultant on someone's personal, physical image. In 2016, he was hired as an image consultant for a high-powered female attorney who was about to become a judge. This PR gig helped him understand how he could become an image consultant full-time.^[1]

Online History

Samuels joined YouTube on May 20th, 2015,^[2] however, he didn't upload his first video until March 6th, 2016, being a promotion for a men's fragrance. Over the course of six years, the video received roughly 46,000 views (shown below, left). He continued to post fragrance-based content going into the rest of 2016 and into 2017. This was around the same time he started making a living off image consulting. On February 13th, 2017, Samuels uploaded a video titled, "6 Reasons Men Don't Approach You," being the first video in which he covered "life coach" adjacent content. Over the course of five years, the video received roughly 48,000 views (shown below, right).

On June 3rd, 2017, Samuels uploaded a video about the dangers of simping, specifically in Black men, titled, "Stop Playing It Safe | Why Men Simp." The video would be the first of his to reach over 1 million views, accumulating roughly 1.4 million over the course of five years (shown below). The success of this video fueled his topic interest going forward.

"You're Average At Best" Controversy

Going into 2020, Samuels' content started to revolve more around life coaching and relationship advice for Black men and women, however, his ideology often sparked controversy in these communities. On December 9th, 2020, Samuels uploaded a video titled, "The 'You're Average At Best' Video," being a Zoom interview with a woman named Dell, a successful, Black business owner in North Carolina. Dell stated she makes six-figures and has trouble finding men who are "on her level," as in, men who also make six-figures.

At the 13:54-minute mark, after a long back-and-forth discussion regarding how Dell is searching for an ideal man that will be hard to find, Samuels asks her to rank herself physically from 1 to 10. She ranks herself a 5 or 6, prompting Samuels to call her "average." The video as a whole received roughly 2.7 million views over the course of a year and a half (shown below).

Death Rumors

On May 5th, 2022, rumors emerged on Twitter that Samuels had passed away. On May 6th, Twitter^[3] user Phil_Lewis_ posted, "More details on Kevin Samuels, per Atlanta Police," in which the department stated he collapsed from chest pains while with a female love interest at his home (shown below).

Internet users started reacting to Samuels' death rumors en masse going into early May 2022. Some did not view his career as beneficial overall. For instance, on May 5th, 2022, Twitter^[4] user HoodWiitch tweeted, "kevin samuels made a career off of bashing women…," earning roughly 15,600 likes in less than 24 hours (shown below, left). Other users did not appreciate the humorous "celebrations" of Samuels' passing. For instance, on May 5th, Twitter^[5] user Caveman36282179 posted a tweet that followed this sentiment, earning roughly 42,200 likes in less than 24 hours (shown below, right).

Various Reactions

Search Interest

External References