IShowSpeed

Darren Jason Watkins Jr. was born on January 21, 2005, in Cincinnati, Ohio, and was raised in the city's Bond Hill neighborhood. He attended Cincinnati College Preparatory Academy and later Purcell Marian High School. His nickname "Speedy" originated from his athleticism and habit of running from dogs.

Watkins developed an early interest in video games and YouTube. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a clip of his aggressive reaction to a video game was reposted by WorldStarHipHop, bringing negative attention and creating conflict with his mother. He subsequently moved to Detroit to live with his father, Darren Watkins Sr., where he began livestreaming full-time with a PlayStation 4 camera.

Watkins registered the IShowSpeed YouTube channel in 2016 and initially posted occasional gaming clips. He began consistent livestreaming in December 2017, playing games including NBA 2K and Fortnite. His broadcasts averaged about ten concurrent viewers in 2020, before his audience grew rapidly in 2021. The channel rose from 100,000 subscribers in April 2021 to one million in June, helped by TikTok clips of his dramatic reactions and aggressive outbursts.

His behavior also led to platform restrictions. Twitch banned him in December 2021 after an appearance on an e-dating livestream hosted by Adin Ross, and the account was reinstated on October 10, 2023. A December 2021 Fortnite livestream produced a viral meme involving players known as "Acey Daddy" and "Pew is daddy". Watkins later organized a reunion with the players in 2025.

In 2022, Watkins broadened his content beyond gaming and became increasingly associated with soccer, particularly his support for Cristiano Ronaldo. His conduct continued to draw attention during this period. Riot Games permanently banned him from Valorant and other Riot titles after a sexist remark toward a female player, and Watkins apologized for the incident. He also received a one-week YouTube ban after streaming explicit material from the Minecraft modification "Jenny's Mod" to a large live audience.

Watkins was swatted during a YouTube livestream in August 2022, and he later returned to streaming. He participated in the Sidemen Charity Match that September, where he received a yellow card after whipping referee Mark Clattenburg with his shirt during a goal celebration. In December, he won the Breakout Streamer award at the Streamy Awards. He later reached 20 million YouTube subscribers in 2023 and held a charity boxing sparring session with KSI for the Anthony Walker Foundation.

Watkins became known for livestreamed international travel in 2024. His European tour during UEFA Euro 2024 generated more than 2.5 billion views across social platforms, while his Southeast Asia tour included a livestream from Indonesia that became the first livestream by an English-speaking streamer to reach one million concurrent viewers. He also crossed 30 million YouTube subscribers during the Southeast Asia trip. In November 2024, Complex ranked him first on its list of the 25 Best Streamers Right Now.

His travel projects continued with tours of South America, China, Mongolia, Europe, the United States, Africa, the Caribbean, and locations connected to the 2026 FIFA World Cup. During his Peru visit, Lima mayor Rafael López Aliaga declared him an honorary mayor for one hour and named him an ambassador of Lima. On his Africa tour, Watkins became the first content creator to livestream from inside the Great Pyramid of Giza. He celebrated his 21st birthday during a Nigeria livestream as his YouTube channel surpassed 50 million subscribers, making him the first Black creator to reach that milestone.

Watkins received Streamer of the Year honors at the 2024 and 2025 Streamer Awards. His 35-day "Speed Does America" tour became the basis for the five-part YouTube series Speed Goes Pro, in which he trained with professional athletes including Tom Brady, Suni Lee, Nastia Liukin, Joey Chestnut, and Kevin Durant. He was also named Rolling Stone's Most Influential Creator of 2025.

Watkins began releasing music in 2021 with the single "Dooty Booty", followed by "Shake" later that year. The music video for "Shake" received more than 211 million views on YouTube. He released "Ronaldo (Sewey)" in 2022 after becoming a prominent supporter of Cristiano Ronaldo, then issued the World Cup-themed single "World Cup" through Warner Records.

Watkins performed "Shake", "World Cup", and "Portuginies" at the 2023 Rolling Loud festival in Portugal with support from Ski Mask the Slump God and DJ Scheme. He released the EP Trip 2 Brazil in 2024 and the EP Speed Gang in 2025. His song "World Cup (Champions)" appeared on the FIFA World Cup 2026 Official Album, and he performed it at the tournament's closing ceremony.

Watkins entered professional wrestling through his association with Logan Paul. At WrestleMania XL in 2024, he accompanied Paul during a United States Championship defense while disguised as a Prime mascot. He unmasked at ringside and was put through a broadcast table by Randy Orton's RKO. Later that month, Watkins announced picks for the Raw brand during the WWE Draft.

He competed in the 2025 men's Royal Rumble, where he and Bron Breakker eliminated Otis before Breakker speared and eliminated Watkins. Watkins later trained with wrestlers at the WWE Performance Center. In 2026, he joined Logan Paul and Austin Theory's on-screen group, The Vision, and competed in a six-man tag team match at WrestleMania 42 against The Usos and LA Knight. After the match, Watkins performed a top-rope splash onto Paul through a broadcast table.