Black Excellence in Gaming Presents: Imfamousx1x

“I wanna set up myself enough where my daughter can hold her head up proud about what her mom has done, and never hold her head down about who she is or where she came from”

We could think of no better way to launch our series than with one content creator that everyone should have their eyes on this year. You may have heard of her as “The Imfamous Test Subject” while perusing through the gaming scene, but most people know her as Imfamousx1x.

A wearer of many hats, most notably her Catwoman mask, Imfamous is known to be a cosplay model, photographer, graphic designer, and mental health ambassador. While she may be a content creator across many platforms, she has found her home in Twitch. Brought into live streaming by friend DarkZeroOmega, a fellow streamer and member of the fighting game community, she became familiar with the platform of Twitch by being a moderator for his channel and watching his streams before giving it a try herself. Her primary games to play on her live streams are first-person shooters, with Call of Duty and Apex Legends being the current favourites to dive into and give her all during edge-of-your-seat matches and rounds.

We can’t be too quick to discredit a good old-fashioned round of Dead by Daylight or Tekken that may grace a stream from time to time, and any game with a strong story or narrative always has a chance to played for her community as well. An ambassador of TakeThis.org, Imfamous, will sometimes use the games she’s playing to open up a dialogue for discussions regarding mental health and similar topics, providing a safe and understanding environment for anyone who may want to come in either to chat or just listen. Since day one, it has been her goal to provide this space for her community, called “The Asylum District,” and to continue to have these discussions so others may feel comfortable doing the same.

Besides live streaming, she is a part of various communities and organizations such as BrownGirlGamerCode, Scream Reapers, and 1000DreamsFund. Imfamousx1x was recently selected as a 1000Dreams BroadcastHER Grant recipient, which she describes as being one of the biggest shocks of her life. After having applied three times before when the announcements were made for the Fall 2020 recipients on the 1000Dreams Twitch channel, she was excited to see a friend’s name appear on her screen. And then shortly after, so did hers.

“And…so I’m sittin’ there, and I’m watching the stream, and I didn’t even think I was gonna be seen, and…you know, when it blinked on the screen, I have seen one of those sisters who pushed my name, and I got the scream and like, ‘Yeah, she got it!’” She had recalled with a smile during our interview, “And then it blinked again, and I was like…I was on my phone with my biological sister at the time, and I see my name, and I just got screamin’. And crying like…this isn’t real. That’s my name? You know, that’s like…what? Somebody actually chose me for something?”

With this much-deserved grant, Imfamous plans on using the funds to upgrade her hardware to provide more stability in her creative endeavours and notes that this experience has given her more confidence and motivation to improve her content creation. She has already begun making more strides in this regard by becoming a HyperX Partner and stepping into the role of caster and commentator for an event curated by the Ladies’ Night FGC, a community founded by Professor High Kick made for women to learn and grow in gaming, that took place this past December. She shared that it was a fantastic experience to watch many young ladies play and give their all during this competition, and for a moment even considered coming out of retirement herself when witnessing the sheer skill and dedication that the competitors showed for the game. Alas, she has much on her plate, so fans will have to settle for the occasional Tekken stream for the time being.

One such thing currently keeping Imfamous busy is being a part of Twitch’s Black History Month 2021 initiative to promote and support Black streamers during February. In addition to being a part of the stream team that Twitch has made specifically for BHM, she’ll have the chance to grace the Front Page and be able to reach and connect with more people through the feature slot. While excited and ready to participate and do all that she can with this opportunity, Imfamous has expressed some reservations about the program and the overall treatment of Black History Month in the gaming scene. Amidst the preparations for trolls and other harassers that like to be incredibly irritating due to BHM, preparations that Black creators are all too familiar with, she confided with us that she had been overlooked for similar opportunities in the past, which has led to feelings of not being enough and put somewhat of a grey cloud over what should be an exciting time for Black creators. But these feelings aside, Imfamous’ main hope is that these efforts by Twitch will help showcase and lead to the promotion and support of more Black creators in the future, especially those who may not fit the mould of what a traditional or “safe” live streamer may be.

“It sucks to feel like you’re not good enough. But you definitely are. Just keep working, keep growing, keep doing. You never know when you’re gonna open an email and drop your bowl of cereal, and be like, ‘Wait, this is what?’”

A creative force with a lot to offer and a big heart, Imfamousx1x is a content creator that has put time and effort into crafting a community that reflects her values. By the end of our interview, she stresses the importance of showing love and appreciation for the people that are an integral part of your lives. And that when opportunities to shine and grow come your way, be sure to bring others up with you along the way. We’re all deserving of and capable of showing support for those around us, her final words being, “cuz at the end of the day, kinda all we really have of each other.”

On behalf of the Off Colour team, we thank her for taking the time to chat with us and share more about her path as a creator!

You can be sure to support Imfamousx1x by visiting their Twitch channel and other socials as well. Be sure to check back soon for when we share our full interview on the Off Colour site!

Thank you so much for reading, and we hope you enjoy the rest of our series!