IShowSpeed's life outside internet: What did the YouTube star do before streaming?

Darren "IShowSpeed" is one of the most popular streaming content creators across all platforms. The Ronaldo super-fan has rapidly risen through the ranks of the streaming sphere, even bypassing big names like xQc and Kai Cenat in terms of audience. In fact, he boasts of a whopping 22.1 million subscribers on his YouTube channel, where he mainly posts his content, including his livestreams.

However, it was not always like this for the brash American, as he had humble beginnings, starting from sporadic uploads of NBA 2K18 content and blowing up during the pandemic. He obtained his level of popularity despite not being part of a bigger organization like One True King (OTK) or a group like AMP (Any Means Possible).

This article explores the meteoric rise of the YouTube phenomenon and how he became who he is today.

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Exploring the rise in popularity of IShowSpeed over the years

IShowSpeed was born on January 21, 2005, in Ohio, where he spent most of his childhood with his siblings, a younger sister and a brother. He created his first account on YouTube on March 21, 2016. However, Darren's first video was uploaded on December 21, 2017, where he showcased NBA 2K18 content without any voice-over, with just some music in the background.

Darren's first livestream, back on December 28, 2018, was nowhere near what it is today, only attracting a negligible number of viewers. Hence, with his content having such a low performance, IShowSpeed maintained only sporadic uploads consisting of NBA 2K series gameplay and Fortnite.

However, from March 2020 onwards, the streamer started uploading regularly, with his focus on NBA 2K20 for the majority of that year. In 2021, his content took a turn from focusing on NBA 2K21 to more IRL content and vlogs.

In 2021, as many parts of the world were still affected by COVID-19, IShowSpeed gained recognition. His fans uploaded clips of the streamer's broadcasts on TikTok and other platforms. This boosted his popularity and exposed him to a mass audience for the first time in his career.

The support showcased by his fanbase was apparent as his following on YouTube grew from a relatively small 12,000 subscribers in January 2021 to a whopping 2,870,000 by December of the same year.

Speed also started to release music and upload music videos, be it collaborations or solo performances, on his YouTube channel, which were raking in millions of views. He released various tracks such as "Shake" (2021), "Bounce That A$$" (2021), "Dooty Booty" (2021), and "Lying" (2021) in collaboration with Jay Cinco.

Darren would stream on Twitch as well at the time. However, he was banned from the platform due to offensive remarks he made towards TikTok personality Ashaley "Ash Kash".

He put up a question during their conversation, asking:

"Say, we're the last two people on Earth and we had to reproduce to make the world continue. Would you reproduce with me?"

After Ash Kash declined, Darren made some off-color comments and stated:

"Who's going to stop me? Who's going to stop me?! If we the last two people on Earth, who's going to stop me?! You're not stopping me!"

This caused Adin Ross to step in and ask Darren to "chill out".

However, by then, the damage had been done, and the streamer received a mail two days later, on December 15, 2021, stating that the streamer had been banned from the platform, citing the reason as "s*xual coercion or intimidation."

This was a big hit to Speed, who was trying to attain as big an audience as possible through his reach across platforms. However, he did not let it deter him from producing more content, focusing further on YouTube streaming and attaining 8,100,000 subscribers by June 2022.

IShowSpeed's content, specifically related to his humorous interactions with Talking Ben from Outfit7's Talking Tom & Friends franchise, blew up on the internet, establishing him as a meme icon. His highway to success had some bumps in the way, however, as he was hit with two Community Guideline strikes in 2022.

The first was on July 22, 2023, due to Darren showcasing suggestive Minecraft modifiers. Consequently, he couldn't upload for a period of seven days. The second instance was when he was barred from uploading for fourteen days on September 21, 2022, after receiving a strike for harassment and cyberbullying. This happened due to joking about a person's weight while arguing with them over Omegle.

In 2022, apart from live streams, the YouTuber's content regularly featured challenges and viral internet trends, which he performed with his own unique twist of over-the-top and in-your-face humor, keeping the audience in suspense over his next unexpected move.

IShowSpeed received his third and final Community Strike on February 27, 2023, due to his livestreaming of the FIFA Ballon d'Or 2022, which was also being streamed simultaneously by FIFA on their official YouTube channel. This was a violation of YouTube's copyright policy, which prohibits users from streaming content that they don't own the rights to. Even after receiving the three strikes, he has continued to stream on his main channel.

He also attended the 2023 rendition of the Ballon d'Or ceremony in person, livestreaming the entire event in a typical IShowSpeed fashion. He interviewed various famous soccer stars at the occasion, and the interactions went viral on social media.

In around February 2023, with over 15 million followers to his name, IShowSpeed started collaborating with other up-and-coming stars like Kai Cenat. The two even dropped a show called The Kai 'N Speed Show, consisting of nine multi-hour episodes, available on RumbleTV. Speed visited India in October 2023, further attaining a strong fanbase in the South-Asian country.

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IShowSpeed has since only risen in viewership, accumulating over 1.89 billion views by November 2023. This has undoubtedly established him as one of the most-watched stars of the W/L community.