US EditionStreamer IShowSpeed samples food and learns traditional dances in African tour
- On Dec. 29, Darren Jason Watkins Jr., known online as IShowSpeed, began a 20-country, 28-day livestream tour during which a man rushed and shoved him in Ivory Coast, prompting a brief tussle separated by his security.
- IShowSpeed framed the trip as a nonstop livestream experiment to showcase African cities beyond charity or wildlife-focused frames, with experts noting livestreams show unscripted everyday life and local history.
- In Nairobi, IShowSpeed crossed a major subscriber milestone while live, surpassing 48 million subscribers with peak concurrent viewership exceeding 240,000 and marking 50 million in Nigeria.
- Clips and reaction videos spread rapidly, producing a rapid perception reset across platforms as viewers saw city streets and stadium crowds updating African urban life assumptions.
- Yonaiel Tadiwos Belete highlighted over two months of planning, saying `What most people see in the final video is a few hours of high energy... What they don't see is two-plus months of planning, countless late nights, site visits, rehearsals, security briefings, cultural coordination, and alignment across multiple public and private sector stakeholders to make it happen,'” attributed to him, reflecting a broader trend of African influencers reshaping city images.
27 Articles
27 Articles
Associated Press News
IShowSpeed wraps up Africa tour highlighting the continent's cultural diversity
The American streamer and YouTuber IShowSpeed is wrapping up a 28-day tour of Africa aimed at showcasing the continent's cultural diversity.
The Hamilton Spectator
IShowSpeed celebrates 50 million YouTube subscribers while on tour in Africa
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The American streamer and YouTuber IShowSpeed is on the final leg of a 28-day tour of Africa aimed at showcasing the continent's cultural diversity, which is
Winnipeg Free Press
Streamer IShowSpeed samples food and learns traditional dances in African tour
Breaking News, Sports, Manitoba, Canada
Can IShowSpeed’s travel videos change how people think about Africa?
Today on Commotion, culture critics Pablo The Don, Matt Amha and Ivy Prosper join host Elamin Abdelmahmoud to discuss the buzz around IShowSpeed’s live-streamed tour of Africa, and how he became one of the biggest content creators in the world.
Africa: Busting Clichés - IShowspeed and African Content Creators Go Beyond 'Safaris and Suffering'
IShowSpeed's livestreamed Africa tour adds to the work that African digital influencers have been doing in recent years to capture the continent beyond clichéd images of poverty and conflict.
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