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From working for GameStop to being the most-watched female streamer on YouTube, Rachell "Valkyrae" has achieved a lot, firmly establishing herself as one of the biggest content creators known to the online community. Dubbed the "Queen of Gamin," Rachell has faced a lot of ups and downs, but remains, as of today, one of the most successful creators.
With over 3.82 million subscribers on YouTube and 3.7 million on Instagram, Rachell's online career has shown no signs of slowing down. Despite being embroiled in controversy in 2021 (due to the RFLCT saga), the YouTube streamer had a very successful 2022.
This article will delve into five striking moments from the previous year involving the Filipino-American streamer.
Valkyrae dominated in 2022: Here are 5 reasons why
1) Completing 7 years as a streamer
On January 13, 2022, Valkyrae completed seven years of being a streamer, which is a testament to her growth and longevity. Despite not tasting success early on in her career, the streamer's perseverance, creativity, and passion for gaming gave her the lift that she needed to prosper in the content-creating world.
Here are a couple of reactions that prove that Valkyrae is loved by everyone:
2) Appearing on Forbes 30 under 30
Prior to turning 30, Valkyrae appeared on Forbes 30 Under 30 in the Games category. The 100 Thieves content creator was among the 30 individuals to appear on the website in early January 2022.
Valkyrae was described as:
"Rachell "Valkyrae" Hofstetter is arguably the most influential female streamer and creator in the gaming space, with over three million subscribers on YouTube and even more followers on Instagram."
Aside from Rachell, personnel from Riot Games, Red Bull Gaming, with whom she is contracted to as well, Kanga, and Respawn Entertainment were also present.
3) Featuring in Bella Poarch's MV
Valkyrae came into the limelight yet again after being featured in Bella Poarch's third single called Dolls. It was a sequel to her first song called Build a B*tch, which also featured the 100 Thieves co-owner. Fun fact, both Rachell and Bella are of Filipino descent.
Aside from Bella's music video, Rachell has appeared in other songs as well. On April 8, Jae Park released a single titled Car Crash, which included Rachell. The latter was featured in a third music video called Memories by Yungblud & Willow Smith.
4) Receiving criticism for wearing a Fortnite x Balenciaga merch
Not everything related to Rachell was smooth sailing, however. In the last week of December 2022, the creator was seen adorning a Fortnite x Balenciaga merch, which provoked the online community to be critical of her sartorial choices.
For those out of the loop, the clothing company received heavy backlash after allegedly sexualizing minors in a recent advertisement. Upon being called out for wearing the hoodie, the streamer said:
“Yes, I know Balenciaga was canceled, I understand, but I figured no one would see it under my jacket.”
She continued:
“I already own it! It’s not like I’m gonna go buy more. It’s just, I have this, it’s a Fortnite x Balenciaga collab, they were canceled, they had a really bad promo, thing, I actually don’t know the full story, but it was a bad thing, I just saw, Oops, Balenciaga, that’s bad!”
5) Backlash for using AAVE
In a stream in October 2022, Valkyrae was heard using African American Vernacular English, or AAVE on stream. She said:
“no cap on a stack fr fr.”
For those unfamiliar, AAVE is culturally linked to the African-American community. Hence, for a non-African-American to use AAVE, especially when the person in question is a celebrity, is considered to be an offensive action.
