The Untold Truth Of Adin Ross
Adin Ross is the streaming name on everyone's lips lately. The young Twitch star has taken both the gaming and music worlds by storm, winning over fans with his infectious enthusiasm and famous friends.
Earlier this year, Ross made headlines for being the first streamer to consistently donate 20% of his Twitch profits to charity each month. The streamer seemingly came out of nowhere, but in reality, Ross has been working diligently and strategically to grow his fanbase. Now, Ross has approximately 4 million followers on Twitch, 1.2 million subscribers on YouTube, and over 500,000 fans on Twitter.
Ross' road to internet fame is pretty straightforward, but there are some details and lucky breaks fans may not know, including how he got close with so many rap stars. From early days playing a ton of "NBA 2K" to his frequent bans on Twitch, Ross always guarantees excitement in his streams.
Rose befriended Bronny James
Adin Ross teamed up with Bronny James relatively early in his streaming career, giving Ross' stardom a boost. LeBron James Jr., also known as Bronny James to his friends, is a gaming legend in his own right. As explained by The Washington Post, after being picked up by FaZe Clan, Bronny expanded his fanbase, making the jump from the world of basketball to gaming.
Ross and Bronny met playing "NBA 2K," and formed a fast friendship. Ross talked about his relationship with Bronny in an interview with No Jumper, explaining that he credits James with keeping him down to earth. "That's like my brother," Ross said of James. "He's the reason why I feel like I haven't developed, kind of like, a crazy ego, because he's like the most humble famous person I've ever met in my life." Ross shared that the two met at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, when a large people were invested in streaming games. After being in a group with James, Ross and James "branched out" and began playing together. Through his friendship with James, Ross also grew his following, especially after Bronny got his dad to speak to Ross on camera.
While some fans still can't figure out why Bronny couldn't answer his dad's questions about gaming chairs, there's no doubt that the young superstar has his own dedicated following and has helped Ross build his brand.
Ross quickly branched out from gaming
Initially, Ross used his interest in "NBA 2K" and friendship with Bronny James to gain followers, but soon he decided that he wanted to explore other streaming options that went beyond video games. First, Ross began streaming "e-dates," which worked sort of like a virtual form of speed dating. Ross would feature one single friend, then allow them to go on "dates" with a variety of other people on stream. Hosting e-dates led to Ross stepping out into other forms of "IRL content," and earn even more followers in the process.
After growing tired of e-dates, Ross moved on to streaming pranks and conversations with his friends, as well as reaction videos. For example, in "Adin Ross gets beaten up by professional boxer," Ross finds getting wailed on as the living punching bag of Ryan Garcia. The 45 minute video also features Ross hanging out with his friends, listening to music, and chatting. In other words, Ross tends to mix in plenty of relatable content, which allows viewers to get to know him a bit better.
Ross seems to attract famous friends
One big draw of Adin Ross is that he's constantly chatting up rappers and other famous celebs. For instance, Ross met Tee Grizzley while playing "GTA 5," noting at the time that many rappers play "GTA" for fun in their spare time. Playing "GTA" helped Ross get more viewers, but he got an even bigger boost from participating in hot tub streams with Corinna Kopf, who frequently worked within Twitch's hot tub meta before the platform began adding even more rules to the category.
Thanks to his growing following and connections with Grizzley and Bronny, Ross began collaborating with a variety of hip-hop artists, explaining that he just enjoys talking to rappers. Ross even hinted that he might work with Travis Scott's Cactus Jack label if it decided to do any sort of gaming-related projects in the future.
Over the course of his career, Ross has streamed with rappers like BlueFace, Lil Yachty, Polo G, and Lil Pump. By bringing together the worlds of music and gaming, Ross has reached a crossover audience, attracting music fans and "GTA" gamers in one fell swoop.
Ross doesn't feel like himself on Twitch
Ross continues to stream on Twitch, but he has a contentious relationship with the streaming platform. Ross has faced Twitch suspensions before, including one that resulted from broadcasting explicit imagery while streaming "GTA" (via Sportskeeda). Ross compared the infraction to the aforementioned hot tub streams, explaining that he didn't think it was fair that hot tub streams can exist on the same where he was suspended for adult content. Though he participated in hot tub streams in the past, it seems Ross changed his stance on the controversial meta, suggesting that people shouldn't be able to show so much skin on stream.
Ross explained on No Jumper that it's often "scary as s***" to be on Twitch because he feels he can't be himself. Much of Ross' humor involves acting over the top and hitting on his friends, or as he calls it, "acting sus." These jokes toe the line of what's acceptable on many platforms. For example, in one video Ross "acts sus" by sitting on Zias' lap while he's bench pressing, provoking a shocked reaction from Zias.
Of course, these minor controversies and issues with Twitch haven't prevented Ross from continuing to grow his following. It's likely that the streamer will continue "acting sus" for as long as his fans will tune in.