Dross (YouTuber) explained

Dross
Birth Name:Ángel David Revilla Lenoci
Birth Date:16 July 1982
Birth Place:Caracas, Venezuela
Education:Universidad Santa María
Signature:Dross Rotzank Autograph.png
Channel Name:DrossRotzank
Genre:Horror (2013–present)
Subscribers:23.2 million
Subscriber Date:16 February 2024
Views:6.24 billion
View Date:16 February 2024
Network:Mitú[1]
Silver Button:yes
Silver Year:2012
Gold Button:yes
Gold Year:2013
Diamond Button:yes
Diamond Year:2017

Ángel David Revilla Lenoci (born 16 July 1982), better known as DrossRotzank or simply Dross, is a Venezuelan YouTuber and writer who has resided in Buenos Aires, Argentina, since 2007.[2]

Early life

Ángel David Revilla Lenoci was born on 16 July 1982 in Caracas.[3] His father was a pilot and his mother was a gastronomy-oriented businesswoman.[4] His ancestry comes from Spain, Italy, and United States. He studied at Santa Maria University, and graduated from Social Communication in 2007[5] and also worked as a journalist for a medical magazine.[6]

In 1998 created the blog entitled El Diario de Dross (The Diary of Dross), whose username "Dross" originates due to a bad spelling of the name of the then wrestler Darren Drozdov, whom Revilla mistakenly refers to as «Warren Droz» in an interview with Radio Programas del Perú. Revilla started in 2000 writing scathing game reviews for websites like MeriStation or Vandal,[7] he also made some posts in the forum GameFAQs.[8]

Career

YouTube career

Revilla created his YouTube account, DrossRotzank in 2006,[9] and in 2007, he moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he currently resides.[10] At first he was dedicated to uploading gameplays of different video games such as I Wanna Be the Guy. However, Dross had some videos that were older that in the end he deleted, among them is one that was re-uploaded by user Lucas Pedraza in which he calls a hacker.

In addition, he made some video reactions, videos answering questions and also some sketches with his characters like "El Troll", "La Gorda", "La Chica Pepsi", "Estela Conchaseca" and "Fuyito Kokoyama".[11] His look consisted of wearing long hair, dark glasses and a straw hat with a leopard print.[12]

In mid-2013, he turned his content to horror videos,[13] and his most famous videos were the Top 7, which according to La Vanguardia, these videos "can take him twelve hours of work."[14] In 2015, Dross participated in a project called "Dross Dark Tales of Terror", where he told contemporary horror stories. Revilla currently runs two additional YouTube channels: Los Vlogs de Dross (Dross's Vlogs), in which he deals with controversial issues, and Mi Querido Mussolini ("My Dear Mussolini"), in which he uploads videos of his pet fish, Mussolini.[15]

In March 2017, Dross was invited to the "La Mole Comic Con" event, which took place at the World Trade Center in Mexico City and which was dedicated to pop culture and Japanese culture. He participated in three meet & greet sessions, on March 17, 18 and 19.[16] Revilla traveled to the Horror Fest, held in the city of Monterrey, Mexico on October 6 and 7, 2018.[17] In 2018 and 2019, he won in the Digital Artist and Digital Vision Award categories from Martín Fierro Awards.[18] [19] [20] In 2020, he exceeded 20 million subscribers.[21] At the beginning of 2021, Dross lent his voice to a Manjarate commercial for the Chilean company Soprole, distributed through the Internet and Chilean television channels.[22] In December 2021, he won again in the category Best YouTuber of the Martín Fierro Awards.[23] [24] [25]

Writing career

In 2015, he was invited to the YouTube Media Fest in Buenos Aires, where he stated during a question and answer session that "the biggest dream of my life is to publish a book." The people from the Planeta Group decided to speak with him to make and publish his first novel, Luna de Plutón (Pluto's Moon).[26] It was released in Spain and Latin America in 2015, and it became one of the ten best-selling Argentine books in a few weeks.[27] David reported in Clarín magazine that he "wrote this book with my real name, Angel Revilla, but I know that Luna de Pluton has drama, mystery, suspense, adventure, everything that Dross has. Above all the normal humor of my channel, black humor."[28]

All his books from Luna de Plutón to Escape were published by Planeta Group.[29] [30] [31] His second book, El Festival de la Blasfemia (The Festival of Blasphemy) was released in 2016, "a short story of terror, narrated from the black humor characteristic of Dross",[32] a sequel to his first book, Luna de Plutón II: La guerra de Ysaak (Pluto's moon 2: The war of Ysaak), was released in March 2017.[33]

His fourth book, El Valle de la Calma (The Valley of Calm) was published in 2018,[34] [35] a thriller based on H. P. Lovecraft works.[36] In 2019, he released El libro negro. Deep web y horror cósmico (The black book. Deep web and cosmic horror),[37] which explores the topics of the Deep Web and cosmic horror. It was the best-selling book in some countries of The Americas,[38] like Argentina from August 25 to September 1, 2019.[39] In September 2021, he wrote Escape,[40] [41] a book with a disturbing story and black humor.[42]

Controversies

In June 2022, Dross criticized the film Lightyear for containing a scene depicting a lesbian couple kissing, accusing Disney of "trying to clean its image" and calling the film "woke",[43] [44] [45] polarizing the internet, receiving backlash on social media as a result while others agreeing with his witticism to the company.[46] Shortly thereafter, he made a tweet about The Little Mermaid, in a tone in what many saw as racist and xenophobic.[47] [48] In August 2023, a tweet Dross made, depicting the rainbow flag being desecrated, was denounced from Germany, on the basis that the tweet had violated the German law on social media regulations. However, Twitter concluded that the tweet did not violated neither the site's rules nor German law; Dross jokingly replied "Calm down, little Adolfs".[49]

Awards and nominations

Martín Fierro Awards

YearCategoryResult
2018Digital Artist
2019Digital Vision Award
2020Best YouTuber

Filmography

YearTitleRole
2006Voces anónimasStoryteller (2013–present)
2015Dross Dark Tales of TerrorStoryteller

Works

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: "Nos están estafando": youtubers denuncian a la network Mitú (VIDEO) . Radio Fórmula . 20 January 2020 . 26 May 2021 . es-MX . 26 May 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210526224744/https://www.radioformula.com.mx/entretenimiento/20200120/nos-estan-estafando-youtubers-denuncian-a-la-network-mitu-video/ . dead .
  2. News: Miguel Ángel Teposteco . Dross, el youtuber de los 6 millones de seguidores . 26 September 2015 . Spanish . .
  3. News: Dross Rotzank. Éste fue su primer video en YouTube . 25 August 2021 . . 9 October 2020 . es-MX.
  4. News: Sierra García . Luisa Fernanda . Dross: había una vez un escritor convertido en youtuber . . 31 December 2021 . 21 May 2017 . es.
  5. Web site: Omaña . Henysbel . Dross Rotzank, el youtuber que busca aterrorizar a los demás con sus historias . La Neta . 26 May 2021 . 26 May 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210526224743/https://www.laneta.com/dross-rotzank-el-youtuber-que-busca-aterrorizar-a-los-demas-con-sus-historias-02-07/token/scroll . dead .
  6. News: ¿Quién es Dross y por qué es toda una celebridad en YouTube? . 10 March 2020 . RPP . 18 July 2016 . es.
  7. News: En Directo: Dross se confesó en CNN Chile . 31 December 2021 . . 11 September 2016 . es.
  8. Web site: Mtz . Alejandro Cruz . Biografía de Dross Edad, estatura, libros, Badabun . LaLetraDe . 26 May 2021 . es-es.
  9. News: Press . Europa . Los 5 'youtubers' latinos mejor pagados del mundo . 20 November 2022 . www.notimerica.com . 11 December 2017.
  10. News: Gaceta . La . Los secretos de Dross Rotzank, el terror de YouTube . 20 November 2022 . www.lagaceta.com.ar . 17 September 2019 . es-AR.
  11. News: "Dross" invitado de honor en La Mole . 31 December 2021 . . 18 January 2017 . es.
  12. News: López. Carolina. 10 July 2021. "Esto no es un top..." son las dos fotografías de Dross que muestran su drástico cambio físico. Radio Fórmula. 23 December 2021.
  13. News: 6 November 2021. "Escape", el libro en el que Dross creó a su propio antihéroe. El Universal. 23 December 2021.
  14. News: Dross, el youtuber que mete miedo en las redes . 11 October 2022 . La Vanguardia . 24 April 2017 . es.
  15. News: ¿Quién es Dross, el youtuber que fue atacado por usar la palabra 'feminazi'? . 11 October 2022 . www.elgrafico.mx . 10 August 2020 . es.
  16. News: Confirma youtuber Dross visita a México . . 2017-01-23 . es.
  17. News: Rodarte . Jorge . El influencer DrossRotzank viene a México . 20 November 2022 . EL DEBATE . 4 June 2018 . es-MX.
  18. News: Youtuber Dross ganó premio Martín Fierro al artista digital más influyente . 26 May 2021 . El Universal . 11 December 2018 . es.
  19. News: Todos los ganadores del Martín Fierro Digital 2019 . 1 January 2022 . Todo Noticias . 22 December 2019 . es.
  20. News: Martín Fierro Digital 2019: la lista de ganadores . 1 January 2022 . MdzOnline . 23 December 2019 . spanish.
  21. News: El juego de terror y enigmas de TikTok que ha enganchado a cientos de miles de personas . 11 October 2022 . Verne . 27 August 2020 . es.
  22. Web site: Estic, el nuevo héroe de Manjarate . Radio Shinka . 15 June 2022 . es . 30 April 2021 . 19 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220119201601/https://shinka.cl/post/estic-el-nuevo-heroe-de-manjarate--534 . dead .
  23. News: Martin Fierro Digital 2021: el youtuber Dross ganó el oro en Neuquén - TyC Sports . 23 December 2021 . TyC Sports . 19 December 2021.
  24. News: Martín Fierro de Oro para La Chepi y Dross en la cuarta entrega de la versión digital en Neuquén . 23 December 2021 . El Destape . 19 December 2021 . es.
  25. News: Martín Fierro Digital: Dani La Chepi y Dross recibieron las dos estatuillas de oro . 23 December 2021 . Los Andes . 20 December 2021 . es.
  26. News: Ornelas . Uriel . "Dross", el "youtuber" de los 6 millones de seguidores . 20 November 2022 . Nortedigital . 26 September 2015 . es.
  27. News: Los 10 libros más vendidos en la primera semana del 2016 . 11 October 2022 . DineroenImagen . 10 January 2016 . es.
  28. News: Dross, una estrella de YouTube, presenta su primera novela . Dross, a YouTube star, releases his first novel . . October 1, 2015 . Spanish .
  29. News: El venezolano Dross, botón de diamante . 11 October 2022 . El Universal . 9 January 2018 . es.
  30. News: "El Libro Negro", la exitosa y escalofriante novela de terror de Dross . 11 October 2022 . La Verdad Noticias . 15 February 2020 . es.
  31. News: "Escape", el libro en el que Dross creó a su propio antihéroe . 11 October 2022 . El Universal . 6 October 2021 . es.
  32. News: 'Dross' en Lima: ¿De qué trata 'Festival de la blasfemia'? . 'Dross' in Lima: What's 'Festival de la blasfemia' about? . . July 6, 2016 . Spanish .
  33. News: Dross habla de la trama de su nuevo libro . Dross talks about the plot of his new book . . April 1, 2017 . Spanish . .
  34. News: Florencia Suárez . Séptimo Día: Dross: La puerta al infierno . Dross: The door to Hell . . July 8, 2018 . Spanish .
  35. Web site: Instagram viral: Dross demuestra con este video que es un maestro del clickbait . Viral Instagram: Dross demonstrates with this video that he's a master of clickbait . Trome . June 8, 2018 . Spanish .
  36. News: Depablos . Omarela . El terror que parió a Dross . 26 May 2021 . El Estímulo . 31 October 2019 . es.
  37. News: El youtuber Dross y "Sinceramente" lideran el ranking de los libros más vendidos . 11 October 2022 . Rosario3 . 5 September 2019 . es.
  38. Web site: Los 10 libros más vendidos . October 2, 2019 . October 2, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191002220137/https://www.sfgate.com/espanol/news/article/Los-10-libros-m-s-vendidos-14419472.php . dead .
  39. News: Los libros de un youtuber venezolano y el de Cristina, al tope del ranking de los más vendidos . 26 May 2021 . Diario El Dia de La Plata . 3 September 2019 . es.
  40. News: El popular youtuber Dross lanza su nuevo libro: "Escape" . 20 October 2021 . Futuro . 22 September 2021 . es.
  41. Web site: 29 September 2021. Envió afectuoso saludo a Chile: Dross reveló detalles de su nuevo libro y sus próximos proyectos. 2021-12-23. 24 horas. es.
  42. News: Dross presenta "Escape", una historia perturbadora de humor negro . 11 October 2022 . www.cronica.com.mx/ . 9 October 2021 . es.
  43. Web site: Youtuber Dross se indigna por el beso de "Lightyear" y se hace viral VIDEO. 2023-06-19. 2022-06-23. Soy Referee. es.
  44. Web site: Dross en picada contra escena de beso LGBTQIA+ en Lightyear: cree que la inclusión fue a la fuerza. 2023-06-19. 2022-06-22. Yahoo Finance. es-US.
  45. Web site: Cinco refutaciones a Dross en su sesgo contra "Lightyear" - Observador Latino. 2023-06-19. 2022-06-25. es.
  46. Web site: Dross en el centro de la polémica con su crítica a Lightyear y Disney. 2023-06-19. En Agenda. es-ES.
  47. Web site: 2023-06-29. es. La Sirenita: Dross es destrozado en redes sociales por publicar un meme sobre Halle Bailey. Tomatazos.
  48. Web site: 2023-06-29. 2023-05-31. es. Dross causa polémica al publicar meme burlándose de actriz de La Sirenita y le responden molestos que es un "viejo racista". Tarreo.
  49. Web site: 2023-08-09. es. Dross se burla de alemanes tras denuncia por imagen contra comunidad LGBT: "Calma, adolfitos". El Universal.