USF4 commentator and player Femi "F-Word" Adeboye © Mad Catz

Spend a moment talking with Femi “F-Word” Adeboye about Street Fighter and his passion and love for the game will be unmistakable. The former semi-pro player turned commentator has spent the bulk of his adult life involved in competitive Street Fighter. The Londoner by way of Nigeria was once considered one of Europe’s top Street Fighter talents. In fact he still is, just in a different facet of the game now. He, along with regular broadcast partners Zade Ramzi and Logan Sama are considered the go-to commentators in Europe for Ultra Street Fighter IV events. F-Word will be the first to tell you he’s not a big personality, not like the commentators he greatly admires like James Chen, Ultradavid, Skisonic, and Seth Killian. Humility, passion, and humor are the traits that stand out the most in a guy who could literally talk for hours about Street Fighter.

Femi the Footballer

Street Fighter is a universal game. That’s one of its charms. It welcomes people of all kinds, including a guy who moved to London at the age of 2 from Nigeria and who grew up at the height of the arcade scene in the late 90s. In F-Word’s case, it took a little time for Street Fighter to win his heart because it wasn’t his first love. F-Word’s aspired to play football (soccer as it’s known in America) professionally.

“I always wanted to be a footballer,” F-Word said. “From the age of eight, I was a goalkeeper. I played with 17 or 18-year-old adults. I was always one of the stronger people I played football with.”

He turned semi-pro at 16 and played until he was about 18 before a newfound love of girls derailed his football aspirations.

“I stopped playing football for a year and a half. I fell in love with the idea of chasing girls, and when I came back, it was never the same.”

With a professional football career out of the picture, fighting games stepped in to fill the void. At 12 years old, F-Word spent his days after school at local arcades mashing out Web-Balls and Uppercuts. He’d spend so much time at the arcades his mother would have to come looking for him, usually embarrassing him by dragging him home by the ear. Eventually, Street Fighter III: Third Strike came along and a ninja girl named Ibuki changed his life.

“When Third Strike came along, everything else dropped,” F-Word said. “I thought, ‘Oh my God, this is the game! I really want to learn this.’ I saw this ninja girl and I picked her up, that became my destiny.”

Femi the Street Fighter

F-Word bought a PlayStation 2 so he could play Third Strike at home. During the hours he spent at the arcade, he’d watch a guy named Sean who was the best F-Word had seen with Ibuki. F-Word occasionally played him but mostly watched as Sean beat the crap out of player after player. Sean had no idea who F-Word was, or that he would become his unknowing mentor.

“[Sean] was the most amazing Third Strike player. I’d literally go to the arcade just hoping he’s there to see him. He played about eight characters. I’d hope someone would beat him so he would pick Ibuki,” F-Word said.

F-Word stood on the sidelines for only so long. As Third Strike’s lifespan crawled to an end, a new hope for Street Fighter fans came when Street Fighter IV released in 2008. The scene was revitalized, and this may have been the point F-Word’s second calling in Street Fighter came to be. He already knew the game. He needed to know the people.

“I imposed my style of how social the arcade should be,” F-Word said. “I’d play people and after I played them I’d say something to them. Stuff the other guys didn’t do.”

Back in the days at the arcades, it was common for players to be less than social with someone they didn’t know or new people. If you got beat, you were sent to the back of the line to wait your turn for another loss and nobody would help you understand why or to improve your game. This was long before there was YouTube or online play where one could learn the basics on their own.

“I’ve always been sociable. I always felt like it was a shame that people didn’t naturally have that social element. As the community grew, I made some really good friends, some of which are still my best friends today,” F-Word said.

The Best Years

Fast forward a couple of years and Super Street Fighter IV released with Ibuki returning to the roster. F-Word’s Street Fighter career took a major turn. He had minor sponsors in the past, but in 2012 he joined up with Western Wolves and Mad Catz, which also had players like Ryan Hart and Seonwoo “Infiltration” Lee at the time. F-Word credited Ryan Hart for making his signing possible. F-Word experienced the height of his success, placing top four in multiple tournaments in 2012 and 2013, including Dreamhack 2012 and Hypespotting 3, and traveling to Evo. He would last with the team for two years until they disbanded.

In the meantime, his work life, meeting the girl of his dreams (again with the women), and losing the sponsorship made it difficult to stay motivated. As his playtime and skills diminished, he picked up the mic more. Logan Sama, a successful deejay in the UK created Winner Stays On, a weekly Street Fighter event in London. Street Fighter players could compete and commentate on the broadcasts. F-Word’s unique personality had already developed, but partnering with other commentators at WSO, like Logan Sama, made them more popular in the scene.

Being a Good Commentator

If you’ve ever heard F-Word commentating, you’ve heard some of his popular catchphrases, “Just gimme da mic! Rago! Oh my days!” He’ll be the first to tell to you he isn’t as big of a personality as you think he is. He acknowledged his style isn’t for everyone, but he’s always a professional when it comes to displaying his knowledge of the game and calling the action but the last thing he wants to see is fighting game commentators turn into robots. So F-Word combines the fun and loose personality with inspiration from football commentator Andy Gray’s analytical presence, passion, and tone of voice.

“I think it’s important to stay neutral when commentating on matches,” F-Word said. “Understand the game to a good level. You don’t have to be the best at the game. Once you have a good understanding of a game, be able to break down analytics without going too deep.”

“Find the balance to say what the players are thinking or going to do. Try and anticipate it, call it as it happens, and delve into the players’ head more. From that point on, everything else comes naturally.”

How the FGC Can Grow

The world of eSports has grown significantly in the last couple of years. F-Word is more than aware of that as high level commentators become more sought after for big time events. A common thread in the FGC, especially among some of the long-time veterans, is the fear of growing too big, too fast. F-Word surprisingly has no such fears.

“I would love to see Street Fighter and fighting games in general become as big, if not bigger, than the games that dominate eSports today,” F-Word said. “Without a shadow of a doubt, it’s more spectator friendly than any other game out there.”

Popularity comes with a cost, and while the FGC has improved over the years, negativity in parts of the community can still be a problem.

“I absolutely wouldn’t hesitate if someone said, ‘You have to lose 70% of this culture for Street Fighter to become half as big as League of Legends.’ I’d like to see the rest of the scene not hesitate to give that up.”

F-Word was referring to parts of the community like the “stream monsters,” fighting games’ live stream audiences occupying chats, who offer their own objectionable commentary, and racism and misogyny that has tainted the FGC over the years.

“I know it’s kind of universal for people online to be absolute idiots. It’s just a shame our culture is heavily tainted by it,” F-Word said. “I would really love to see us move away from that, hopefully as the game grows.”

F-Word could easily spend an entire day talking about Street Fighter. He recalls dozens of matches he’s been a part of as a player or a commentator instantaneously, like some kind of living, breathing competitive Street Fighter Wikipedia. He’s had success as a competitor in the past, and even recently with a fifth place finish at VSFighting 5 . That’s good enough for eight points in the Capcom Pro Tour standings. He knows success in competitive Street Fighter is fleeting. It can be taken away at any moment and he’s grateful to be a part of it while he can, especially as he moves on to a new chapter in life. F-Word and his wife are currently expecting their first child.

Oh my days, how his life will change.