In a historic celebration blending a major career milestone with a personal landmark, American streamer IShowSpeed (Darren Watkins Jr.) surpassed 50 million YouTube subscribers while celebrating his 21st birthday during a live broadcast from Lagos, Nigeria.
This achievement makes him the first Black individual creator to reach this subscriber count on the platform. The moment occurred surrounded by thousands of cheering Nigerian fans as part of his ongoing 28-day “Speed Does Africa” tour.
Historic Milestone: Speed, whose energetic and unfiltered style has fueled rapid growth, is the first solo Black creator to achieve this. He celebrated atop a car in Lagos traffic, calling it the “best birthday gift”.
The Nigeria Connection: The setting was significant; his tour aims to showcase modern African culture to his global audience. Emotionally, he thanked fans for making Nigeria part of his historic moment.
Unprecedented Rise: From humble beginnings in 2016, Speed’s channel skyrocketed from 1 million subscribers in 2021 to this new peak, driven by viral moments and international travel content.
The streamer, already one of YouTube’s top gaming creators in 2025, now sets his sights on a new goal: joining the 100 million subscriber club.
