The collective's origins began when Smino met Chris "Classick" Innumerable at Columbia College Chicago, who owned a recording studio in his house in Chicago and later became his manager. Interning for Classick, engineer and mixer Elton "L10MixedIt" Chueng met Smino in that studio where they began working together.[2] In 2012, they met rappers Bari Allen and Jay2 and producer Monte Booker while making music together and formed the collective Zero Fatigue after creating a song of the same title, with lyrics "Zero Fatigue, I'm out of my league".[3] The crew later expanded and added members Ravyn Lenae and Nosidam.[4] Unofficial members and affiliates of Zero Fatigue include Jean Deaux, Drea Smith, and Phoelix.[5] Zero Fatigue is a collective creating a safe space for homegrown artists to harvest their raw talent and demonstrate a futuristic funk element of rap.[6]