Welcome to the Hip Hop Student Assocation (HHSA) of the University of Washington!

Hip Hop is a political and cultural force that grew out of the poverty of the working class in New York City during the 1970's. Through the decades, it has grown into a worldwide phenomenon whose elements can be seen throughout virtually all parts of the globe today... (more).

Event Highlights

Mikskee's Official Re-Cap: Claws Out Seattle II

It finally went down, the culmination of all of our hard work this spring. CLAWS OUT SEATTLE II was a huge success in a lot of ways. For that I have a lot of people to thank.

Let’s start from the beginning:

Throwing an event of this scale is, fundamentally, just like any production. Whether it be emcees producing albums, writers publishing a book, or artists finalizing a piece for an exhibit, producing an event like CLAWS OUT is complex and exhausting, but most of all, it takes an enduring sense of passion.

Every detail had to be drawn out and properly orchestrated, relationships developed and leveraged, situations controlled and finessed, and, ultimately, bets on chance and acts of faith. There were ups an downs, moments of hopelessness and moments of triumph. There were times to think positively and times to think negatively, ambitiously and realistically, passionately and financially. All in all, a lot of energy was put into doing what I love: dance. And the success of the talent, competitors, dancers, and the event that is Claws Out Seattle II, is the product of that passion. It was quite a journey!

Of course, in no way, was I the only hand in this tremendous achievement. JUSTROC is the reason why I was empowered to throw CLAWS OUT at all, HHSA was the family that supported me all the way and who I did it with and did it for, FISH BOOGIE was an indispensable aid who unfortunately was a casualty to bad circumstances, THE CORNERSTONE BAND were rockstars and quarterbacked the event, TIM CHIPS was a huge ally who provided us a lot of opportunities, EVO had a supportive staff who were on our side from the get-go, and of course the DANCERS who made this scene, this community, and ultimately this event. The list goes on…

In the end, I was happy to have thrown my 2nd large-scale event and to have received so much support. As a senior in college about to graduate in only a couple of weeks, this weekend has been a blessing and a milestone in my life that I will never forget. Thanks to everyone who supported!

Now on to the good stuff!

3V3 BBOY/BGIRL COMPETITION FOR $1200:

JUDGES: Twixx, (Massive Monkees), Free (Circle of Fire), Jermz (Dance Broomz)

Nearly 40 crews entered and got narrowed down to 16. The crews that night brought HEAT so there were definitely a lot of tough calls for the judges. There were some strong squads consisted of super dope individuals and crews showing a lot of teamwork. In the end the ART OF MOVEMENT/SUPERCR3W team took 1st place with ChaCha (AOM/Flava Squad), Dialtone (AOM), and Jalen (SUPERCR3W). They were on fire all night!

SHIEKH LIFESTYLE ALL-STYLE 1V1 INVITE BATTLE: This segment was straight off the chain! It even surprised me how dope the competition was. A great mixture of different dancers of different backgrounds came through and just KILLED IT. Notables were POPPIN’ RICE, JESSICA HU, and DANIEL JEROME. The final battle between K-Yool (Gorilla Crew) and Complex (Quadian) was a close one with K-Yool coming through on the tie-breaker. Check it out!

EL NINO vs. JUNIOR: The highlight of the night. CLAWS OUT events are known for their epic exhibitions and this year we pitted EL NINO from Boston representing FLAVA SQUAD and FLOOR LORDS against JUNIOR from Seattle representing ART OF MOVEMENT and THEM TEAM. These two young, up and coming BBOYS brought energy and dynamics that really lived up to the CLAWS OUT name. Historical stuff right here:

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