Hoodie Allen (musician)
Encyclopedia
Steven Markowitz better known by his stage name Hoodie Allen, is an unsigned American
hip-hop artist and rapper.
He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2010, where he studied finance and marketing and was a brother in the Alpha Epsilon Pi
fraternity. While there, he met his producer, RJF. After graduating, he worked at Google
as an AdWords associate in their START (Standardized AdWords Reseller Training) program. He would leave at 7 AM for a bus ride to the Google offices
in Mountain View
, work a full day at Google, return at 6 PM, and then write songs, answer fan emails, and schedule concerts until 2 or 3 AM. Reflecting on this, Hoodie said: "I was moving so fast, and even while I was at Google there was so much going on that I felt like I was doing two full-time jobs." His dream and passion was music, so when he got opportunities to do live shows, he decided to leave Google.
Best Music on Campus Award in 2009. In June 2010, he released "You Are Not a Robot," which hit #1 on Hype Machine, an aggregator that collects the most-blogged about music in the world. After seeing the response, he spent the summer working, and finished his mixtape Pep Rally by September. The album was produced by DJ Gabe Sills, and sampled songs from Death Cab for Cutie
, Flight Facilities
, and Two Door Cinema Club
. He picked the name “Pep Rally” because he said that it “captured the energy of the record. Something new and exciting.” When asked about the writing process, Hoodie said: “Throughout Pep Rally, the ideas for samples were very collaborative. We would camp out in [RJF]’s basement for a weekend and not leave till we had 3 songs done—that was the mentality.” The mixtape was downloaded over 200,000 times. He self-financed a video for “You Are Not A Robot,” which has over 2 million views.
In July 2011, Hoodie released his third mixtape, Leap Year, which was also produced by friend and producer DJ Gabe Sills. It reached 250,000 SoundCloud
plays in its first week of release. On the title for his mixtape, Hoodie explains: "It basically just talks to the leap of faith I took this year leaving everything else behind to be an artist." In support of the album, Hoodie headlined a 15 city tour across North America, including stops in San Francisco, New York City
, and Montreal
. Previously, he had toured with The Cataracs
, Das Racist
, Chiddy Bang
, and RJD2
.
He also featured in College Humour's Jake and Amir series as the character Amir Blumenfeld's rap teacher.
’s Uncharted Territory. For the week of August 5th 2011, Hoodie was #2 on Billboard’s Uncharted Territory, with Billboard noting that his "growing popularity is undeniable."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
hip-hop artist and rapper.
Early life
Hoodie was born in New York City, New York, and raised in a Jewish household on Long Island. He started writing lyrics as a child, and would perform raps for his friends at house parties. Growing up, his nickname was "Hoodie." He wanted a rapper name that "would stick in peoples’ minds and be a little bit funny and representative of who I am," so he settled on "Hoodie Allen."He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2010, where he studied finance and marketing and was a brother in the Alpha Epsilon Pi
Alpha Epsilon Pi
Alpha Epsilon Pi , the Global Jewish college fraternity, has 155 active chapters in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Israel with a membership of over 9,000 undergraduates...
fraternity. While there, he met his producer, RJF. After graduating, he worked at Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
as an AdWords associate in their START (Standardized AdWords Reseller Training) program. He would leave at 7 AM for a bus ride to the Google offices
Googleplex
The Googleplex is the corporate headquarters complex of Google, Inc., located at 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway in Mountain View, Santa Clara County, California, United States, near San Jose. "Googleplex" is a portmanteau of Google and complex, and a reference to googolplex, the name given to the large...
in Mountain View
Mountain View
-Canada:*Mountain View County, Alberta, a municipal district*Mountain View, Alberta, a hamlet in Cardston County*Mountain View, Ontario, a community in Prince Edward County*Mountain View No...
, work a full day at Google, return at 6 PM, and then write songs, answer fan emails, and schedule concerts until 2 or 3 AM. Reflecting on this, Hoodie said: "I was moving so fast, and even while I was at Google there was so much going on that I felt like I was doing two full-time jobs." His dream and passion was music, so when he got opportunities to do live shows, he decided to leave Google.
Career
Hoodie's first two album releases were "Bagels & Beats" and "Making Waves," which garnered him an MTVUMtvU
mtvU is a division of Viacom's MTV Networks which produces a 24-hour television channel that is available on more than 750 college and university campuses across the United States, as well as several digital cable packages...
Best Music on Campus Award in 2009. In June 2010, he released "You Are Not a Robot," which hit #1 on Hype Machine, an aggregator that collects the most-blogged about music in the world. After seeing the response, he spent the summer working, and finished his mixtape Pep Rally by September. The album was produced by DJ Gabe Sills, and sampled songs from Death Cab for Cutie
Death Cab for Cutie
Death Cab for Cutie is an American alternative rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington in 1997. The band consists of Ben Gibbard , Chris Walla , Nick Harmer and Jason McGerr ....
, Flight Facilities
Flight Facilities
Flight Facilities is an anonymous Indie DJ duo who claim on their Myspace and Facebook pages to be from Trinidad and Tobago but are widely quoted as in fact being from Sydney, Australia. There are sources which name the duo members as U-Go-B and Jimmy2sox but nothing official has been released by...
, and Two Door Cinema Club
Two Door Cinema Club
Two Door Cinema Club are an indie rock band from Bangor and Donaghadee, County Down, Northern Ireland. Formed in 2007, the band is composed of band members: Sam Halliday , Alex Trimble and Kevin Baird...
. He picked the name “Pep Rally” because he said that it “captured the energy of the record. Something new and exciting.” When asked about the writing process, Hoodie said: “Throughout Pep Rally, the ideas for samples were very collaborative. We would camp out in [RJF]’s basement for a weekend and not leave till we had 3 songs done—that was the mentality.” The mixtape was downloaded over 200,000 times. He self-financed a video for “You Are Not A Robot,” which has over 2 million views.
In July 2011, Hoodie released his third mixtape, Leap Year, which was also produced by friend and producer DJ Gabe Sills. It reached 250,000 SoundCloud
SoundCloud
SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform which allows collaboration, promotion and distribution of audio recordings.-History:SoundCloud was originally started in Stockholm, Sweden, but was established in Berlin, Germany in August, 2007 by sound designer Alex Ljung and artist Eric Wahlforss...
plays in its first week of release. On the title for his mixtape, Hoodie explains: "It basically just talks to the leap of faith I took this year leaving everything else behind to be an artist." In support of the album, Hoodie headlined a 15 city tour across North America, including stops in San Francisco, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
. Previously, he had toured with The Cataracs
The Cataracs
The Cataracs are an American hip hop indie-pop duo formed in Berkeley, California, consisting of David “Campa” Benjamin Singer-Vine, a songwriter and vocalist and Niles “Cyrano” Hollowell-Dhar, a songwriter, vocalist, and producer. The duo started out as an independent group, during their years at...
, Das Racist
Das Racist
Das Racist is an alternative hip hop group based in Brooklyn, New York City, composed of MCs Himanshu Suri , and Victor Vazquez and hype man Ashok Kondabolu...
, Chiddy Bang
Chiddy Bang
Chiddy Bang is an American alternative hip hop band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The group consists of Chidera "Chiddy" Anamege and Noah "Xaphoon Jones" Beresin. The duo was introduced through former band member Zachary Sewall in late 2008 during their freshman year at Drexel University, in...
, and RJD2
RJD2
RJD2 is an American music producer, singer and musician. RJD2 was born in Eugene, Oregon, and raised in Columbus, Ohio. He currently resides in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was signed to the Definitive Jux label where he released two largely instrumental hip hop albums and has produced tracks...
.
He also featured in College Humour's Jake and Amir series as the character Amir Blumenfeld's rap teacher.
Reception
In July 2011, he cracked the Top 10 of BillboardBillboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
’s Uncharted Territory. For the week of August 5th 2011, Hoodie was #2 on Billboard’s Uncharted Territory, with Billboard noting that his "growing popularity is undeniable."