Hoodie Allen

Hoodie Allen
Hoodie Allen performing at Roseland Ballroom in 2013
Background information
Born	(1988-08-19) August 19, 1988 (age 28)
Origin	Long Island, New York, U.S.
Genres	Hip hop alternative hip hop hipster hop underground hip hop pop rap
Occupation(s)	Rapper singer songwriter
Associated acts	Jhameel G-Eazy Jared Evan Mark Saavedra Meghan Tonjes Skizzy Mars Chiddy Bang DJ Fresh Direct Craig Messum Moosh and Twist Chance The Rapper Shwayze Kina Grannis Ed Sheeran Max Schneider Fall Out Boy Blackbear Your Favorite Martian
Website	www.hoodieallen.com

Steven Adam Markowitz, known professionally as Hoodie Allen, is an independent American rapper. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, he began working at Google before ultimately quitting to pursue a music career full-time. Between the years 2009 and 2011, Hoodie released several mixtapes which garnered moderate success in the underground music scene. Finally in 2012, he released his first official EP titled All American which debuted at No. 10 on the Billboard 200. A follow-up mixtape, Crew Cuts, was released the next year along with an acoustic version of All American. 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 with 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 the Penn's sprint football team. 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 7AM for a bus ride to the Googleplex in Mountain View, work a full day at Google, return home at 6PM, write songs, answer fan emails, and schedule concerts until 2 or 3 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.