Meet Rob Hawkins: The man who raps your bagel orders

At 7:01 a.m. on a chilly Tuesday morning, customers at Bagels ‘n Grinds, a local College Park, Maryland breakfast spot, are still half-asleep. Students drag themselves inside to escape the cold, but even the strong scent of coffee and bright lights can’t wake up their tired eyes and foggy minds. 

Bagels ‘n Grinds manager Rob Hawkins appears from behind the counter like someone just pressed “play” on the morning, “Who’s ready to get HYPE!” he shouts, stretching his arms wide. 

Hawkins, known on TikTok and Instagram as “@hypehizzle69,” has been here since 5 a.m. Within seconds, he’s dancing with customers, making rhymes out of order numbers and energizing a table of sleepy freshmen as if they are about to run onto the Maryland football field instead of an 8 a.m. lecture. 

It’s not the sort of place you expect to meet a rapper, entertainer and self-made content creator with a budding local reputation. But then again, Rob Hawkins isn’t really the sort of person you expect at all.

For Hawkins, the word “hype” is more than just a catchphrase. It’s an acronym that he repeats to himself and others throughout the day, standing for “‘Hype Yourself Up Everyday.” 

“Hype yourself up means heighten your potential every day, take it to the next level,” he said. “Also, because I’m a hyper person. My rap style is hype, hyper. So it just goes all the way around.” 

Hawkins started in 2015 as a line cook at the Bagel Place, a former College Park bagel shop located on the corner of College and Baltimore Avenue. He rose through the kitchen ranks at the Bagel Place before it closed in 2021 when lease negotiations fell through. Ever since, he’s worked as a cashier and eventually became the manager at Bagels ‘n Grinds just a few minutes down Baltimore Avenue. 

“I first met Rob briefly when he worked at his old job,” said Hawkin’s former manager, Badara “Badu” Njai. “I interviewed him maybe two years ago. He walked in and I was mesmerized by his sense of humor and his personality.”

“Small world, Bagels ‘n Grinds was the competition back then,” Hawkins joked. “We were like funny, friendly competition. It was actually a natural transition from there to here, because they knew of me and the kind of person that I was.”

“He is what was lacking at Bagels ‘n Grinds at the time. Without Rob, that place is dead,” Njai said. “He’s one of a kind, always smiling. And most importantly, he loves what he’s doing. It’s very rare to see that.”

Over the years, Hawkins has become something of a campus personality. His TikTok and Instagram videos, once simple freestyle raps made for University of Maryland sororities, have spread across the country. Hawkins receives over 50 requests a day from sororities at other universities in the United States, as well as from many University of Maryland athletic teams and campus organizations.  

His first video request came in 2016 from three members of Delta Delta Delta, one of the 16 Panhellenic-affiliated sororities at this university. They were regulars of the Bagel Place, where Hawkins worked at the time, and became like “little sisters,” he said. Inspired by his jokes at the counter and ability to turn order numbers into off-the-cuff rhymes, they asked if he could make a short rap video for their chapter. Hawkins didn’t think much of it at the time, coming up with the lyrics on his way home from work that day. 

“I started mumbling words, like beauty, swag, trifecta, Tri Delta, and by the time I got home, the anthem was already set,” Hawkins said. “It got on YouTube and Instagram, but then it spread to other Tri Delta chapters across the country and I started getting requests to make more.” 

“Luh-luh-luh-let us stand fastly love one another!” the original rap went. “Repping sisterhood like no other, ayy, Tri Delta, Tri Delta, Tri Delta! Beauty, swag, brains that’s the trifecta trifecta trifecta.”

It wasn’t until Hawkins began working at Bagels ‘n Grinds that his videos gained more traction. What started as a playful favor became a recognizable corner of Greek life across the country and the University of Maryland community. Hawkins has amassed roughly 7,500 followers on Instagram and TikTok combined, becoming known as the guy who could energize an entire organization with a 20-second rhyme recorded on his lunch break. 

Even Maryland’s athletic community joined in on the hype. Hawkins started recognizing athletes from teams coming in before lift or after practice, eventually receiving requests from them and their coaches. 

“I’ve done something for almost all of the UMD athletic teams, and I’d say 90% know the words to this anthem,” Hawkins said.

“You are the elite, complete athlete! From your head to your feet! On the field, you bring the heat!” the anthem goes. 

Senior field hockey player, Ava Trexler, has become good friends with Hawkins ever since she first started coming to Bagels ‘n Grinds her freshman year, and he began calling her orders under the nickname, “Ava with the flava!”

“He’s involved in a lot of our gameday rituals, whether he knows it or not,” Trexler said. “We all know his chants, but a lot of us go to Bagels ‘n Grinds on gamedays and he’s always there to hype us up.”

Even as requests began to pour in, Hawkins’ creative process hasn’t changed. If a video is for a sorority, he studies their symbols, gestures and history. If it’s a personal video or for another organization, he gets the background information he needs and then waits for the words and a beat to click. And when they do, he cracks open a Delish Strawberry Kiss Bang and presses record.

For Hawkins, managing Bagels ‘n Grinds and making content have never been separate. Both come from the same place, an instinct to make people feel seen. At Bagels ‘n Grinds, he practices that every day and shares his content with a larger audience online.

“I think of my job as bringing a little sunshine into people’s lives. And when I need a little extra motivation, I look at the positive messages on my Instagram and think, ‘This is why I do this.’” 

Before the social media following and the steady stream of follow requests, Hawkins said he got most of his energy and performance instincts from his grandmother, who he credits as the person who “had the most heart” throughout his life.

“My grandma always had that drive for work,” Hawkins said. “Up every morning, 10 or 11 hours a day, she’d come home and just tell me one thing. She said, ‘If you come home from work and you’re not tired, you did not work.’ I didn’t get that back then.” 

The lesson stuck. Whether he’s juggling a morning rush, recording videos on his break, greeting customers or hyping up coworkers, Hawkins carries her words with him. He says it’s why he refuses to go through a shift on autopilot because every day is an opportunity to leave people feeling better than when they arrived.

And if you ask the people who come in every morning, you won’t find anyone with a bad word to say about him.

“Anyone who’s ever been to Bagels ‘n Grinds knows that Rob is the first face you see, he always greets you with a smile,” Trexler said. “He’s the most grateful person for the smallest acts, he expects nothing from anyone and gives everyone everything.”

Taylor Faust is a senior in Phi Sigma Sigma sorority and is a regular at Bagels ‘n Grinds. She first met Hawkins during her freshman year.

“We have this thing going, a back and forth of random quotes or things to each other on my orders,” Faust said. “Whenever I go in, I give him a hug, he literally doesn’t have a mean bone in his body.”

“He’s also so sweet to all of my friends,” she said. “He knows us all, he has this quote, ‘Phi Sig do it big!’ and every time we come in, he says it. My senior house is called Birdhouse, so he makes bird noises every time we visit.”

Despite the growing attention, Hawkins says he isn’t planning on leaving Bagels ‘n Grinds anytime soon. The job gives him stability, community and the chance to be himself. 

“When I walk in here, I don’t have to put on an act,” he said. “Loud, crazy, hype, all of it.”

Hawkins has goals beyond the counter. During his time at the Bagel Place, he appeared on the Big Ten Network with Maryland Women’s Lacrosse and on Fox 5 DC. He now hopes to branch out into more on-camera work.

Another dream of his is to travel to different universities across the United States and make videos in person, meeting the students and organizations that he’s only interacted with on screen. 

“I’ve gotten a lot of requests asking me to come perform at schools across the country. It would be a great chance to travel and support the people who show me so much love,” Hawkins said. “So that’s something that I’m really considering to take this Greek life thing to the next level.”

Hawkins talks about the future in the same way he talks about his videos, with energy building behind the words. But he isn’t in a hurry. He still checks on customers, rhyming order numbers and calling out goodbyes as people head to class. 

What he wants more than anything is to keep putting joy into the world. Whether that means television appearances, traveling to college campuses across the country or finding new ways to perform, he’s open to wherever the hype energy takes him. 

Until then, he’ll be behind the counter at Bagels ‘n Grinds, shouting greetings and rapping long before the sun has fully risen. If he can pass along even a fraction of that energy to the College Park community, that is enough. 

“Whatever I do next, I just want to keep spreading the hype,” Hawkins said.