Darren Jason Watkins Jr., known by the nickname IShowSpeed or simply Speed, is one of the world’s most famous YouTubers and online streamers today.
Born on January 21, 2005, Watkins has become globally recognized for his explosive energy, unpredictable behavior and wildly popular live shows.
He started his YouTube career in 2016, posting content related to video games. However, it wasn’t until 2021 that he gained widespread popularity, primarily due to his intense reactions during gameplay, barking, venting his anger, and other viral moments that set him apart from the crowd of streamers.
Although he is known for his fun and sometimes controversial appearance, IShowSpeed also stands out as a person who shows the cultures, languages and customs of different countries to the audience through travels and livestreams. That is why many call him the “informal ambassador of culture”. His IRL (in real life) streams from different countries often gather hundreds of thousands of viewers.
At the age of 16, he became a millionaire, and he gave his first major purchase – a luxury villa – to his mother. In addition to streaming, he also tried his hand at music. His single World Cup, released in 2022 in collaboration with Warner Records, has been on the charts around the world.
He is currently on a major European tour during which he is visiting more than ten countries, including Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Turkey, Spain, Finland and others. During his stay in Split, he went live via YouTube, and the broadcast was watched by more than 100,000 viewers at one point.
Watkins has won several prestigious awards so far, including the Breakthrough Streamer of the Year award at the Streamy Awards 2022, and the Streamer of the Year title at the Streamer Awards 2024.
In addition, he is also known as an avid fan of Cristiano Ronaldo, which further strengthened his popularity among football fans around the world.
He has as many as 41 million followers on YouTube, while he has tens of millions of followers on TikTok and Instagram, Klix.ba writes.
