The Collective Soul series was initiated in June 2000 by former La Peña Program Director, Paul Flores and emcee, Brutha "Los" of Company of Prophets. The programs were conceived to provide a space for "soulful grooves and conscious lyrics for a new generation".

The first show featuring Company of Prophets, Goapele and Marc Bamuthi Jospeh received an overwhelming response from the community. People loved the combination of hip hop with neo soul and spoken word. The series became a popular place for high school and college age students to come.

Collective Soul was conceived to be a showcase event for emerging bay area artists. In this way, audiences were constantly being introduced to new performers as artists shared their audiences. Numerous artists who have participated in Collective Soul are now touring nationally including Goapele, Zion I, Company of Prophets, Kofy Brown. Other artists featured have included: O-Maya, X-Roads, Prophets of Rage, Mission/Crown City Rockers, Hanifah Walidah, Aya de Leon, Ladies Wonder, Medusa, Mystic, Loco Bloco, Destiny Arts and Youth Speaks students. Always in search for continuum, Collective Soul is incorporating different elements of self expression with mc battles and b boy/girl battles as well new community partnerships, such as Youth Together and Happs Magazine.

Collective Soul also became a networking place for activists, artists and audiences. With sponsorship from Blu magazine and a place for different organizations and artists to share information and sell their crafts and music, each night took on the feeling of a marketplace and at times, a cultural rally in addition to a happening night of music. Through Collective Soul and other La Peña hip hop programming, artists and activists joined to work to defeat Proposition 21, an initiative which further criminalizes young people. Other programs have supported campaigns to defeat the expansion of youth jails, to stop the war in Iraq and other issues.

Several other projects and initiative have grown out of La Peña's spoken word and Hip Hop programming. Among them is our participation in the International Hip Hop Exchange, an initiative which comes out of New York and through which cultural exchange between hip hop artists and producers is fostered. As part of this project, La Peña hosted its first International Hip Hop Exchange event in May 03 with guest artists from Cuba from the groups, Obsesión and Doble Filo who performed and had exchange opportunities with local artists.

La Peña also participates in the collaborative effort to produce the Bay Area Hip Hop Theater Festival. Spearheaded by the New York Hip Hop Theater Festival along with local participants, Youth Speaks and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, La Peña helped to produce the preview Festival in September 03 and is working toward the first annual Festival to take place in May 04.

"Obsesion" from Cuba. Photo by Francisco Villaflor