We hit up the first ever StreetGodz freestyle battle today at Gypsy Tea in NYC. Not only were we invited, but we were also asked to judge the competition. The StreetGodz movement is basically a freestyle battle (think Nike Freestyle commercial) where competitors show off their illest ball tricks to music. Eight competitors from across the country battled it out for the $1,000 cash prize & a StreetGodz endorsement deal. All the tricksters were put into an eight man bracket & battled head to head. The winners advanced & the losers went home.
The set up was straight out of Fight Club. The lights were dimmed & the spotlight was put on “the pit”. The competitors were put into a roped off circle and went at it like two Pitbulls while the crowd went bonkers. Each round was started by a “ring girl” wearing near nothing walking around the pit with a “Round #” sign. The MC let the crowd & the competitors know from jump that only the strong would survive. Ramon Rodriguez (from the HBO show THE WIRE) was one of the contestants and an early crowd favorite. There were four competitors from L.A that represented the “Westside!” to the fullest. To my surprise the mostly New York crowd showed them mad love. One of the funnier moments of the event was when the MC asked a kid by the name of “The Snake” where he was from. Snake proudly told the MC that he was from Wisconsin. To which the MC said “Wisconsin?!?!? I don’t know anyone from Wisconsin!”. Snake responded by saying “damn neither do I!”. When the smoke cleared the last man standing was Kenny Rodriguez from Washington Heights NY. He edged out Ramon aka The Wire in the final round to take home the cash & the deal. Congrats Kenny!! Gotta give Raphael Edwards (StreetGodz CEO) a big shout out for the invite & for putting on a great event.