IT IS fair to say Altu Collingwood has suffered for his art.
Sitting in a Princes Avenue bar, sipping on a coffee, he can point you in the direction of his metal knee and his metal hip – both earned taking part in his lifelong love of breakdancing.
What he can't point to are the two months he once spent undergoing medical experiments to raise money for a charity event he was planning, or the pain of giving up two pairs of his vintage Nike Air Jordan trainer collection for auction in order to fund his latest endeavour.
"Ah the knee," says the seasoned 33-year-old breakdancer – or B-Boy as it's known in the trade. "I feel like the bionic man sometimes.
"The knee was a painful one. I was taking part in the UK University B-Boy Championships in Newcastle in 2004.
"I'd dislocated it the night before by practising, but being young and stupid I'd decided to take a painkiller and still take part in the event.
"The knee popped out of its socket right in the middle of the competition and I spent the best part of the next year on crutches.
"That was when I decided to get more into the management and presenting side of organising events and projects.
"It's a lot easier on the joints."
The next event is a breakdancing, freestyle rapping and DJ "sound clash battle" at The Welly in Beverley Road, Hull, on Friday.
Called Floornography, the event will bring together B-Boys, B-Girls and hip hop fans from as far afield as Leeds, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool and London as well as top DJs, including the UK DMC DJ Champion DJ Rasp, who will be taking on his long-term mixing rival, Hull's own DJ Severe, behind the decks. There will also be music from Hull's DJ Toots and DJ Phil Cooper to keep the party jumping.
Throw in some tasty rap battles and you will have a night of authentic urban entertainment encompassing the world of hip hop.
On the mic, there will be a selection of signed rap artists, including Tony Broke, Seek The Northerner and Ken Masters, from Killamari Records. They will be "exchanging" with MC Redeye, the first Hull-born rap artist to be signed to a US record label.
But it's not all about the macho posturing that hip hop music has been become associated with in the mainstream. The event is being staged to raise money for the HipHop 4 Hope Charity, which helps children living in the slums of Manila, in the Philippines, escape gang violence through music and dance.
All the artists performing have volunteered their skills for free in support of the cause.
It is, as Altu puts it, taking it back to hip hop's roots, when "it was all about community and helping each other move forward through peace, love, unity and having fun and using a positive to overcome a negative".
Altu, who has returned to live in Hull after several years working in London, says: "It's a fiver to get in on the door and it'll be an incredible amount of fun.
"It's the sort of event that I want to get up and running regularly.
"Organising hip hop and arts events is my passion.
"I've subsidised quite a lot of other people's events down the years, too, using my wages to help put things on, because that's what I enjoy."
Growing up "as what seemed like being the only Turkish boy in Hull" in the 1990s, Altu, who goes by his B-Boy name of Flowrex, was one of a small, but fiercely competitive and closely knit hip hop scene in the city.
Bringing together all the elements of American street culture from hip hop to rap and breakdancing, a vibrant sub-culture emerged in Hull during the decade.
"You used to have to go to a special club night to listen to hip hop – everywhere plays it now, it's called 'urban' music now and sounds very different, but back then it was still quite niche in Hull.
"Hip hop had been quite big in the 1980s but had died in about 1985, from what I remember – but this was before my time.
"When it made a comeback in the 1990s it returned to its original roots, although there were times where it branched off into gangster rap, which unfortunately is often what people think the culture is about when it is quite the opposite.
"It was still quite a small scene in Hull that wasn't really accepted by the mainstream.
"But it was a strong scene because we were all committed to it and pushing for the same thing.
"I was young in that scene and the key inspirations pushing it were DJ Fast T, DJ Severe, DJ Toots, DJ Redlokz and Full Flava, graffiti writers and B-Boys like Shade, Admas and Leebo, who are all nationally recognized today and gave the best education a guy could get.
"The scene has made a massive jump since then, of course. Now you have B-Boy PlayStation games and huge B-Boy competitions sponsored by Red Bull.
"In 2010 and 2011 we put on a breaking and hip hop competition as part of Hull's Freedom Festival, which was a great honour and was really well received.
"Hopefully, some day in the future I can tie in what we did in Liverpool on the Tear It Up International B-Boy Championships, which had over 5,000 people watching breaking and live hip hop for two days, and hopefully bring it home to Hull.
"But when we started out we used to travel for two days to take part in events and then sleep in the station waiting for a bus home. The scene now is very professional, which is great to see.
"We are looking to start more workshops in the city and to try to teach more people so a new generation can benefit, too.
"We are excited about trying to get a lot of the whole scene in Hull together with people from all over the country and also welcome people to come and help us make a huge difference while having a fantastic time at the event.
"This Friday we have officially the UK's best DJ, some of the UK's best rap artists and dancers from all over the country.
"It's going to be one big party and it all helps change the lives of young people in the Philippines for the better. It sounds like a no-brainer to me."
• Floornography is at The Welly in Beverley Road, Hull, on Friday, from 10pm to 3am. Entry costs £5. Email flow@soulpowered.co.uk or tweet @bboyflowrex for details.
Hull to Liverpool to London - and backIT HAS been a long and circuitous route to bring Altu Collingwood back to his home city.
Born and bred in Hull, he migrated west to Liverpool, where he was part of a B-Boy crew called Floorplay. From there, he became an ambassador for Liverpool's year as European Capital Of Culture in 2008, organising hip hop events and other cultural events, including The Tear It Up International B-Boy Championships, which spun off into jobs delivering major touring concerts and sports events such as the MTV Europe Music Awards and BBC Sports Personality of the Year, working at the Liverpool Echo Arena and the Birmingham NEC.
Eventually, London called and Altu has been working on various Olympic legacy projects and major culture events on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, helping to manage the Copper Box Arena and the London Aquatics Centre, all while organising or hosting at B-Boy contests in his spare time.
