Last month, in a episode of "360 with Speedy", we had Burna Boy judge various jollof rice samples from different African countries. As expected, he decided Nigerian jollof was his favorite.
So naturally, Complex decided to pull up to the "Battle of the Real Jollof'' at Nike HQ in NYC. The event is a celebration of diaspora culture that features a competitive basketball game, a jollof rice taste test and the best of afrobeats/amapiano sounds. This year marked the third edition of the "Battle of the Real Jollof" after it was started in 2020 by Arinze Emeagwali, TJ Adeshola, and Abdul Karim Abdullah. This year's attendees included music artist Jidenna, New York Giants star Kayvon Thibodeaux, Major League DJ’s, four-time New York Times Best Selling Author Luvvie Ajayi, and more. The emcees were ESPN’s Monica McNutt and international DJ and recording artist, DJ Tunez.
The basketball game leaned into the friendly rivalry between Ghana and Nigeria by bringing together hoopers and influencers to compete in an exhibition. Team Nigeria was coached by two-time NBA All-Star Victor Oladipo, and Ros Gold-Onwude of ESPN while team Ghana was led by former NBA player and current New York Knicks executive Pops Mensah Bonsu.
As for the game, it was a back-and-forth battle to the last minute. Team Nigeria started out with high-flying dunks, chest bumps and big energy. However, Team Ghana took the lead in the last minute of the game, and held on to win the game.
To add all the flavors to this year’s game, African cuisine from local vendors was on full display with Accra Restaurant (Ghana), Kayode Restaurant ( Nigeria) and Teranga (Senegal) competing in a "jollof off", with attendees voting to decide who really cooks up the best jollof! Just like the game, Ghana took home title as champion. We had our own jollof poll live from the event as well.
So despite Burna’s allegiance to Nigerian jollof, it carried Last Last in this year’s competition. Needless to say, the Battle Of Jollof was a can't-miss event!
