The Beginning (1998 ~ 2000)
In 1998, Kevlar (Kevin), Tekstep (Raul), Ben, and Sisco (Fransico) met at the Black Eyed Peas & A Tribe Called Quest concert. These four really got to know each other when Ben saw Kevlar, Tekstep, and Sisco breakin’ on a sheet of linoleum. Afterwards, they exchanged their phone numbers. Ben and Sisco began to meet at Ben's garage and break. Later on, Kevlar, Tekstep and C-La (Carla) joined in 1999. However, with their busy schedule and social life, they eventually stopped practicing together at Ben's garage.

The Reunion (2000 Spring)
Ryu (Chris) was the founder and the president of Spanish River High School Breakdancing Club. After he being accepted into the University of Florida, he questioned starting a Breaking club at UF, however at that time, he thought that only nerds and geeks lived there, and doubted that he would meet even any bboys or bgirls in Gainesville. Luckily, Ben spotted Ryu toprocking at a party and quickly struck a conversation. They later met in the parking lot and showed each other their moves. Ben happily invited Ryu for a practice session in his garage with Kevlar and Tekstep. After an 8 month period the original members were once again reunited.

The Hip-Hop Collective: From Concept to Creation (2000 Spring ~ Summer)
These four people practiced every Friday and this place gave birth to the Hip-Hop Collective as we know it. Dvine (Riyaana) and Sean, who lives now in St Petersburg, joined the practice session. One night, after practice, Ben, Ryu, Kevlar, Tekstep, and Sean were sitting at Ben's house where Ryu brought up his idea of starting a breaking club at the University of Florida. However, even though everyone loved the idea, a major drawback was that no one knew where or how to start. After many hours of discussion the members finally decided to attract people by having an open cypher at Turlington Plaza.

After the Turlington Plaza Cypher, they had their first official practice session at the corner of the Reitz Union 3rd floor same night. People who showed up at the very first practice session were Ben, Kevlar, Tekstep, Ryu, Dvine, Sherr (Carlos), Jason. More people continued to join, including Dzine (Rico), Melanie, Domination (Pierre), Jerm (Jeremy), and Hi-Top(Danny).

The Collective was forced to seek another practice area when janitors from the Reitz Union complained about the continuously trashed floor. Jennings Hall was deemed the most appropriate location due to its large basement. Misti, the 2002-03 President, and Air Istotle (Preston) came from the Hip Hop Habitat in search of their interest in hip hop; however, some Collective members had the idea that these two were Habitat spies. Along with them came currently active members such as BMX (Andrés), Zane (Roy), ZachAttack (Zach), Mandi, Two Scoops (Matt), Dre (Andreas), Chris, Starvin (Arvind),Robotic Flava (Gerald), and The Messenger (Marley).

The Hip Hop Habitat (2001)
There used to be another Hip Hop club at UF called the Hip Hop Habitat. Aubrey, the former president of the Hip Hop Habitat, created this club with his friends and concentrated mostly on the emcee aspect of hip hop. The Habitat wanted the Collective to become their Breakdancing Committee; however, most Collective members were not partial to this idea because the Habitat was focused more on commercialized rap music. The Messenger (Marley) was the MC Chairman for the Collective and strongly disagreed on merging with the "Rappers" of the Habitat. The adversity between these two clubs grew and eventually forced each club to go their seperate ways. Even though the Habitat broke up after a year, the Collective has been thriving ever since.

Becoming an Official Club (2001 Summer)
In the summer of 2001, Kevlar and Ryu spent a lengthy amount of time searching for a practice facility by visiting numerous dance related departments on campus. During this same time frame, the club became approved and Kevlar created the name “Hip-Hop Collective”. Kevlar, Ryu, Dvine, and Hi-Top were appointed as Collective's first President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer, respectively.

The Hip Hop Collective Summit (2001 November 30th)
The idea to throw a large scale bboy/bgirl event was conceived when Ryu and Benito were hanging out at Kevlar's house. After months of preparation and the help of many Collective memebers, the officers were able to throw the Summit at the Reitz Union. Even though it was their first event and many hardships were endured, the success of the Summit was a huge aspect in the Student Government’s decision to grant the Collective a huge $6,000 budget. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of the officers, the Collective was able to achieve something that had never been accomplished by any other first year organization.

Becoming a Sports Club (2002)
With many efforts and commitments from Riyaana, Kevlar, Ryu, Sean and many others, the Collective was able to become an official sports club in order to receive certain benefits such as transportation to events, a larger budget, and a better practice facility. After approval, the bboy related branch of the Collective became a Sports Club of the University of Florida.



The Hip Hop Collective (2005-2006): Representing All Four Elements
The emcee branch strengthened with the return of The Messenger and the DJ branch showed potential through the newly purchased turntables. The graffiti aspect has been showcased in the background of many talent shows and student activities. Furthermore, Collective members have also formed Ground Level, a Chapter based at the Santa Fe College.

Written by Chris Ryu (March 7th, 2003)
Edited by Zach Goldman and Preston Robinson
 

Archived by Christopher Montoya (April 24, 2012)
Republished by Christopher Montoya (Oct 23, 2012)