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Victoria Abraham defines one up and coming artist each week so you can impress your friends with your musical brilliance. This week, she tackles Hoodie Allen, a rapper from New York.
Hoodie Allen has been writing lyrics and rapping since he was a little kid. Now, at 23 years old, he’s released three mixtapes and one album. Although he remains unsigned, Allen has established a name for himself as the king of summer anthems. On May 1, he’s heading to Chicago as part of his All American tour.
Origins: Plainview, New York
Real name: Steven Markowitz. The name Hoodie Allen comes from his childhood nickname “Hoodie.”
Known for: Hoodie Allen is known for his lyrical prowess and feel-good music, which includes candid storytelling and witty punchlines.
Used in a sentence: ”Long Island-bred, Jewish and nerdy, Hoodie Allen dissolves rapper stereotypes like it’s his day job… oh wait, it is.”
File next to: Asher Roth
Download now: No Interruption
Fun facts: Hoodie Allen graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in finance and marketing in 2010, which is where he met his producer. After graduating, Allen got a job with Google as an AdWords associate. He’d spend his days at Google, and his nights writing songs. When he got the chance to do live shows, he left Google.
To date, Allen has toured with Mike Posner, Das Racist, Chiddy Bang, The Cataracts and RJD2. He was also featured as a rap teacher on CollegeHumor’s Jake and Amir series.
Career highlights: In 2009, Allen won mtvU Best Music on Campus Award for his EP “Bagels & Beats,” and his mixtape “Making Waves.” In June of that year he released the song, “You Are Not a Robot,” which hit numero uno on Hype Machine. Since then, he released his second mixtape Pep Rally and Leap Year.
Finally, on April 10, 2012, Allen released his album All American, which debuted as number one on iTunes. It also debuted as number 10 on Billboard’s Top Albums.
Notable lyrics: Hoodie Allen tells you how it is, in the first single off All American, “No Interruption.”
“Tell me what you really want from me/Point blank no discussion/Close mouth, close mouth, ow/I give it to you No Interruption/And tell me one time that you want me/I promise that I won’t say nothing.”
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