Where is IShowSpeed from?

IShowSpeed is from Cincinnati, Ohio, United States and currently resides there.

Darren Watkins Jr., better known as IShowSpeed or Speed, is a gamer, reaction, and variety live-streamer, football athlete, and hip-hop musician. Watkins is known for his unrestrained, unconventional, aggressive, and flaunting personality on his assortment of gaming and amusement livestreams. In 2021, he gained over 1 million subscribers in a matter of days, which made him one of the youngest creators with the fastest-growing channels of that year. He is among the most popular people on the internet.

When Outfit7's Talking Ben started publishing clips about him on TikTok, his interactions with his fan base became even more famous. The majority of them became internet memes. Furthermore, worth mentioning is that he made the game the most downloaded app at that time.

Until March 2018, Watkins only attracted two viewers when he began live-streaming and uploading videos of games. His subscriber count has increased from 100,000 in April 2021 to 1 million in June 2021, and 10 million in July 2022.

How did IShowSpeed become famous?

After TikTok users began posting videos of his behavior during live streams, his popularity increased significantly. This popularity inspired the creation of online memes. Twitch and Valorant banned him, so he was kicked from those platforms.

He is one of the biggest and fastest-rising streamers on YouTube, according to Kotaku. Speed’s videos on Speaking Ben have greatly helped his popularity grow. Watkins' videos on Talking Ben the Dog helped the mobile app become the best-selling game on the App Store more than a decade after its initial release.

Other incidents that helped him gain fame are - in July 2022, a firework that he had set off in his bedroom nearly burned down his house. He was forced to stop live-streaming on YouTube in August 2022, after he was targeted by swatting. He claimed that he had been jailed and that Adin Ross had to pay his bail for him to return to streaming on August 11th 2022.

Additionally, he attempted to cheat in August 2022, when he was taking a 'United States and Global Economics' course at the Ohio Digital Learning School. He asked his viewers to provide the answers to his questions. He received incorrect answers on the test and scored zero.

Furthermore, he played in the Sidemen Charity Football Match in September 2022. While playing, he became frustrated with referee Mark Clattenburg for being mistakenly flagged offside. He whipped a boy on the back with the shirt he had taken off when he was celebrating. Lil Nas X, an American rapper and singer, made his live-streaming debut in November 2022, appearing on IShowSpeed's stream.

In August 2021, Watkins released his first single, 'Dooty Booty,' on his YouTube channel. After it was uploaded, the song became popular on YouTube and other social media sites like TikTok. The single “Shake” was released in November 2021, and it received over 130 million views on YouTube.

During the 12th Streamy Awards in December 2022, he was awarded the Streamy Award for Best Breakout Streamer. The song “Ronaldo (Sewey)” was released in June 2022, after his admiration for the player. At the start of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, he released a single called “World Cup” under Warner Records.

In November 2022, Sky Sports decided to stop featuring Watkins due to past misogynist comments, and removed all associated content. He signed an exclusive streaming contract with Rumble in May 2023. Watkins surprised fans at the Rolling Loud festival in Portugal in 2023, and later met Daler Mehndi during a visit to India in October 2023.

How much IShowSpeed worth?

Darren's main source of income comes from his YouTube ad revenue. He is worth between $10 and $12 million. Darren also makes money from paid promotions and merchandise sales. A large fortune has been collected through donations during his live streams and through his album.