Popular American streamer Darren Jason Watkins Jr., better known as IShowSpeed, has praised Nigerian food during his Africa tour, describing Nigerian jollof rice as the best in the world.
The 21-year-old YouTuber remarked on Wednesday, during his ‘Speed Does Africa’ tour to Lagos, which will last 28 days and cover 20 countries. The tour started in Angola on 29 December 2025.
IShowSpeed arrived in Lagos on his 21st birthday, while taking part in several cultural activities, including dressing in Yoruba local attire and eating jollof rice at Freedom Park.
The streamer declared Nigerian jollof rice the best, saying it tasted better than Senegalese jollof rice. The YouTuber came to Nigeria from Senegal, where he had streamed the country’s AFCON trophy parade.
“Nigerian jollof rice is good. It tastes better than Senegal jollof rice. I would have to go with Nigeria in terms of which country has the best jollof rice,” he said.
IShowSpeed in Lagos
His visit to Nigeria also broke a major streaming record after his YouTube channel crossed 50 million subscribers while he was live in Lagos traffic. This made him the first Black individual creator to reach the milestone.
Local TikTok streamer Habeeb Hamzat, known as Peller, tried several times to meet him, chasing the convoy on foot and on horseback, but IShowSpeed ignored the attempts.
Skit maker Egungun of Lagos managed to speak briefly with the streamer, praising IShowSpeed’s physique and asking about his “wooo wooo” sounds, which IShowSpeed uses to imitate dog barking.
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Afrobeats artist Zlatan Ibile also surprised IShowSpeed with a birthday cake at the ZTTW store, which the streamer said was his first-ever birthday cake.
Singer Davido also joined the moment through a FaceTime call from Paris. He asked IShowSpeed how he felt about Nigeria. “Nigeria has been amazing. I am here for another day,” IShowSpeed replied.
TikTok creator Jarvis also appeared at a nighttime birthday gathering. She came in her robot character, which IShowSpeed reacted to with excitement.
