Hoodie Allen

Steven Adam Markowitz (born August 19, 1988), known professionally as Hoodie Allen, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter from Plainview, New York.

After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, he began working at Google before ultimately quitting to pursue a music career full-time.

These earned Hoodie a nomination for MTVU's Best Music on Campus Award in 2009.

The single "UPENN Girls" also received notable attention.

After graduating in 2010 with a degree in marketing and finance, he worked at Google as an AdWords associate in their Standardized AdWords Reseller Training (START) program.

He would leave at 7:00 am for a bus ride to the Googleplex in Mountain View, work a full day at Google, return home at 6:00 pm, write songs, answer fan emails, and schedule concerts until 2:00 or 3:00 AM.

Reflecting on this, Allen 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.

Hoodie Allen originally was the duo of Steve Markowitz and Obey City (Samuel Obey, a childhood friend) on vocals and production, respectively.

The name came about because Steven's nickname growing up was "Hoodie," and he wanted a name that "would stick in peoples' minds and be a little bit funny and representative of who I am" so a play off of famed filmmaker Woody Allen was settled on.

Steven and Obey's first two releases were the Bagels & Beats EP and Making Waves mixtape.

However, in 2010 Obey City ceased to produce in Hoodie for unknown reasons, and Steven continued making music with RJ Ferguson (aka RJF), giving himself the name Hoodie Allen.

In June 2010, he released "You Are Not a Robot," which sampled "I Am Not a Robot" by Marina and the Diamonds and which hit No. 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 largely produced by RJF, and sampled songs from Death Cab for Cutie, Flight Facilities, Marina and the Diamonds, Ellie Goulding, and Two Door Cinema Club.

He picked the name "Pep Rally" because he said that it "captured the energy of the record" and something "new and exciting."

He self-financed a video for the lead single "You Are Not A Robot," which helped the mixtape get downloaded over 200,000 times.

In July 2011, Hoodie released his third mixtape, Leap Year.

It reached 250,000 SoundCloud plays in its first week of release.

In support of the album, Hoodie headlined a 15-city tour across North America, including stops in San Francisco, New York City, and Montreal, with supporting act Fortune Family opening on several venues.

Previously, he had toured with The Cataracs, Das Racist, Chiddy Bang, Mike Posner, and RJD2.

In 2012, he released his first official EP, titled All American, which debuted at No. 10 on the Billboard 200.

On March 4, 2012, Hoodie announced via Twitter that he would be releasing his first EP, titled All American.

He decided on this title because he credited his rise to the American Dream, because he felt the songs showcased his best music to date, and because of a hometown restaurant with the same title.

Hoodie spent five months developing the album, building tracks from scratch with his producer, RJF, rather than using sampled beats.

Regarding the writing process, Hoodie stated that, "I would describe it as liberating... It was like, 'Okay, I hear this idea in my head, I hear these original ideas, [and] I'm putting them and piecing them together.'" On March 29, 2012, Hoodie released the first single from All American entitled "No Interruption," as well as its music video.

The music video for his second single on All American, titled "No Faith In Brooklyn (feat. Jhameel)," was released on April 9.

All American was released on April 10, 2012, and debuted as the No. 1 album on iTunes and at No. 10 on the Billboard 200.

Over the months of April and May, Hoodie made a 22-stop tour across the US in support of All American, featuring rapper Wax, Jared Evan, and others varied from show to show.

The I Work Better In The UK Tour was his first time performing overseas.

The Excellent Adventure Tour, which featured G-Eazy, began on September 7, 2012.

On February 11, 2013, XXL premiered the music video for "Cake Boy," the first single off of Hoodie's upcoming mixtape.

The single was later released on iTunes for purchase.

In October 2014, Hoodie officially released his debut studio album, People Keep Talking, which was successful with first-week sales of over 30,000 along and a debut position of No. 8 on the Billboard 200.

Hoodie followed up on his success in January 2016 and released his second studio album, ''Happy Camper.

Steven Markowitz was born on Long Island and raised in a Jewish household in Plainview along with his brother, Daniel.

He started writing lyrics as a child, and would perform raps for his friends at house parties.

Markowitz first attended the Long Island School for the Gifted in South Huntington, and later attended Plainview – Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School.

While attending the University of Pennsylvania, he pledged the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity.

He also played as defensive back for Penn's sprint football team.