In January, IShowSpeed went live from Addis Ababa during his Speed Does Africa tour, pulling in one of his biggest streams to date. The broadcast drew over 257,000 concurrent viewers, hit 10 million replay views in under 24 hours, and turned Ethiopia into a global talking point overnight. The very next day, DDG posted on X (formerly Twitter): "i needa go to ethiopia."
Two months later, he's there.
"ETHIOPIA IM HERE," DDG wrote on Sunday, March 23 via X. "LIVE ON TWITCH TOMORROW!! DONT MISS IT." The post racked up nearly 100,000 views as the 28-year-old YouTuber, whose real name is Darryl Granberry Jr., kicked off a week of IRL streaming from the Ethiopian capital.
Making it all possible is MemeHouse Networks, the L.A.-based livestream production company that has quickly become the go-to name behind some of the biggest creator-led broadcasts in the world. The company has racked up roughly five billion views in under a year, and recently powered Academy Award-Winning artist and songwriter DIXSON’s livestream of the 2026 Grammys.
For Granberry's Ethiopia trip, the MemeHouse team ran the entire broadcast remotely from Los Angeles using a cloud-based setup, with no on-site control room required.MemeHouse LA just proved that the future of live media is in the cloud.
By integrating Live Internet Bonding to stabilize fluctuating local connections and utilizing Remote Switching, MemeHouse maintained total creative control over the stream’s visual and audio output in real-time. From monitoring bitrates across international routes to supervising final mix integrity, the team managed every technical variable from their LA studio, setting a new standard for international remote production.
But this isn't just a creator popping up in a new city for content. According to a press release, the “Moonwalking in Calabasas” rapper was hosted by Kuriftu Resorts and sponsored by Ethiopian Airlines to bring awareness to the country's fast-growing economy. He's also received invitations from the Ethiopian government and the Minister of Tourism to learn about the culture and history of the city.
On Wednesday, he put that into practice. Granberry visited the Adwa Victory Memorial in Addis Ababa, a landmark honoring Ethiopia's historic 1896 defeat of Italian colonial forces. According to Addis Media Network, the Twitch star toured the memorial's galleries, explored historical artifacts and cultural displays, and was welcomed with a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony honoring the country as the birthplace of coffee.
The trip runs March 24 through 28 and marks the latest international production for MemeHouse, which has previously worked with A Boogie Wit da Hoodie, Ice Spice, and Justin Bieber. It also fits into a bigger picture for Granberry. His IRL streams from Japan helped cement him as one of Twitch's biggest names last year, and he recorded an entire album live on the platform with guests like Shaboozey and DaBaby.
“I feel like it's better when artists connect closer with the fans,” he told TMZ at the time. “So they can feel like they're more of a part of the process rather than just being surprised.” Addis Ababa is just the latest stop where he’s taking that fan-first approach global.
