# Hoodie Allen
**Hoodie Allen** is the stage name of Steven Adam Markowitz (born 1988), an American rapper, singer, and songwriter from [Long Island](https://www.edgepedia.org/long-island), New York, known for pop-rap that moved from internet-mixtape success to Billboard-charting releases, beginning with his 2012 EP *All American*.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Steven Adam Markowitz, born 1988 in Plainview, NY, on Long Island[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/hoodie-allen-mn0002917357) |
| Genre | Rap; styles listed as Pop-Rap and East Coast Rap[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/hoodie-allen-mn0002917357) |
| Breakout | "You Are Not a Robot" (2010), sampling Marina and the Diamonds' "I Am Not a Robot," on the mixtape *Pep Rally*[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/hoodie-allen-mn0002917357) |
| *All American* EP (2012) | Debuted at number ten on the Billboard 200; reached number one on the iTunes charts within hours of release[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/hoodie-allen-mn0002917357) • [2](https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/hoodie-allen-42006.php) |
| *People Keep Talking* (2014) | Debut studio album, number eight on the Billboard 200 with more than 30,000 first-week sales[3](https://www.rapreviews.com/2021/11/whatever-happened-to-hoodie-allen/) |
| *Happy Camper* (2016) | Topped the U.S. rap chart[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/hoodie-allen-mn0002917357) |
| Recent work | Collaborations with Connor Price (2022); fifth album *bub* (2023)[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/hoodie-allen-mn0002917357) |
## Early life and Penn beginnings
Markowitz grew up in a Jewish household on Long Island, writing lyrics as a child and rapping for friends at house parties; he recorded songs with a $20 microphone on the family computer and had no formal music training beyond some piano and guitar lessons.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/hoodie-allen-mn0002917357) • [4](https://thepenngazette.com/when-steven-met-hoodie/) He has described first performing for a paying audience at around 16 or 17, at the club Crazy Donkey on Long Island with an early evening slot while his main act followed hours later.[4](https://thepenngazette.com/when-steven-met-hoodie/)
**University of Pennsylvania.** He applied early decision to Penn after a summer screenwriting program there, was deferred, and was eventually admitted, studying at the [Wharton School](https://www.edgepedia.org/wharton-school) and graduating with a degree in marketing and finance. He joined the [Alpha Epsilon Pi](https://www.edgepedia.org/alpha-epsilon-pi) fraternity and played safety on Penn's sprint football team.[3](https://www.rapreviews.com/2021/11/whatever-happened-to-hoodie-allen/) • [4](https://thepenngazette.com/when-steven-met-hoodie/)
It was at Penn that the music career began. Accounts differ slightly on how the name arose: one source says he took "Hoodie" from a childhood nickname during high school,[5](https://www.ticketmaster.com/Hoodie-Allen-Whatever-Usa-Tour-tickets/artist/1614512) while a 2012 profile in *The Pennsylvania Gazette* describes Hoodie Allen as a wordplay on the film director and quotes Markowitz saying he wanted a catchy name fitting "a Jewish kid from New York who was doing something unconventional."[4](https://thepenngazette.com/when-steven-met-hoodie/) The moniker originally referred to a duo, with Markowitz on vocals and the producer Obey City on beats.[6](https://www.citybeat.com/news/music-hoodie-allen-12223560/)
He met his principal producer, R.J. "R.J." Ferguson (RJF), a fellow Wharton classmate, through the campus scene connected to his fraternity; the two released the street albums *Bagels & Beats* and *Making Waves* and won MTV's Best Music on Campus Award in 2009.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/hoodie-allen-mn0002917357)
## Google, marketing, and going independent
After graduating in 2010, Markowitz took a job at Google as an account executive selling advertising, and for months ran two lives: Google by day in San Francisco, and rap by night, writing songs, answering fan email, and flying back to New York for weekend shows. Four months in, he took a leave of absence to do music full time; Ferguson soon quit his own marketing job to join him.[4](https://thepenngazette.com/when-steven-met-hoodie/)
The early business model was deliberately nontraditional. Rather than seek a record contract, he gave music away online, built a website where fans could download everything with one click, cultivated hip-hop bloggers directly, and answered every email and tweet personally to build loyalty. By early 2012 he had more than 100,000 Facebook fans, *Leap Year* (2011) had drawn nearly 300,000 downloads, and a music video had passed 2 million views.[4](https://thepenngazette.com/when-steven-met-hoodie/) His 2012 single "You Are Not a Robot" had hit 60,000 listens on its first night and reached number one on The Hype Machine blog aggregator.[4](https://thepenngazette.com/when-steven-met-hoodie/)
## Recording career
The 2012 *All American* EP, released on his own label with production from RJF, moved him from internet favorite to charting artist, reaching number ten on the Billboard 200 and number one on iTunes; *XXL* reported nearly 90,000 copies sold within months, achieved through touring and social media without label backing.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/hoodie-allen-mn0002917357) • [7](https://www.xxlmag.com/hoodie-allen-xxl-feature-all-american/) The acoustic EP *Americoustic* followed in 2013, and the mixtape *Crew Cuts* that year featured [Chance the Rapper](https://www.edgepedia.org/chance-the-rapper).[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/hoodie-allen-mn0002917357) • [8](https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/steven-markowitz.html)
**Albums.** *People Keep Talking* (2014), his first full-length studio album, debuted at number eight on the Billboard 200 with more than 30,000 first-week sales, and included the [Ed Sheeran](https://www.edgepedia.org/ed-sheeran) feature "All About It."[3](https://www.rapreviews.com/2021/11/whatever-happened-to-hoodie-allen/) Three more LPs arrived in the late 2010s: *Happy Camper*, which topped the U.S. rap chart in 2016; *The Hype* (2017), which he described as exploring the side effects of success; and *Whatever USA* (2019).[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/hoodie-allen-mn0002917357) • [9](https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/interview-a-second-home-for-hoodie-allen/)
**2020s.** His first 2020s material came in 2022 through a series of collaborations with Connor Price, and his fifth album, *bub*, was issued in 2023.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/hoodie-allen-mn0002917357) His own site has since previewed "Buddy System," released September 20, 2024, and listed touring dates including Milwaukee's Summerfest in June 2025.[10](https://hoodieallen.com/)
## Reception
Critical reception has been mixed. Reviewers at Sputnikmusic gave *Leap Year* a 1.5 rating, arguing the humor had grown overbearing compared to *Pep Rally*, and rated *All American* 2.0 while criticizing the shift away from the indie samples of his early sound.[11](https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/44795/Hoodie-Allen-Leap-Year/) • [12](https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/49509/Hoodie-Allen-All-American/) A college newspaper review of *All American* was more favorable, calling it an overall impressive effort and highlighting "No Interruption" and "No Faith in Brooklyn."[13](https://archives.nd.edu/observer/v45/2012-04-26_v45-130.pdf) AllMusic placed *People Keep Talking* among its Favorite Rap and Hip-Hop Albums of 2014.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/hoodie-allen-mn0002917357)
## Later directions
In recent interviews Markowitz has described a reinvention toward a pop-punk sound, beginning with the single "Call Me Never."[14](https://www.xsnoize.com/interview-hoodie-allen-talks-his-artistic-reinvention-new-single-call-me-never/) Outside music, he took up competitive poker, reaching the [World Series of Poker](https://www.edgepedia.org/world-series-of-poker) events in 2021 about eight months after taking up the game seriously.[3](https://www.rapreviews.com/2021/11/whatever-happened-to-hoodie-allen/)
## References
1. [Hoodie Allen Biography, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/hoodie-allen-mn0002917357)
2. [Hoodie Allen Biography, The Famous People](https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/hoodie-allen-42006.php)
3. [Whatever Happened to Hoodie Allen?, RapReviews (2021)](https://www.rapreviews.com/2021/11/whatever-happened-to-hoodie-allen/)
4. [When Steven Met Hoodie, The Pennsylvania Gazette (2012)](https://thepenngazette.com/when-steven-met-hoodie/)
5. [Hoodie Allen artist page, Ticketmaster](https://www.ticketmaster.com/Hoodie-Allen-Whatever-Usa-Tour-tickets/artist/1614512)
6. [Music: Hoodie Allen, CityBeat](https://www.citybeat.com/news/music-hoodie-allen-12223560/)
7. [Hoodie Allen XXL Feature, XXL Mag](https://www.xxlmag.com/hoodie-allen-xxl-feature-all-american/)
8. [Hoodie Allen, Famous Birthdays](https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/steven-markowitz.html)
9. [Interview: A Second Home For Hoodie Allen, CBS Philadelphia (2017)](https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/interview-a-second-home-for-hoodie-allen/)
10. [Hoodie Allen official site](https://hoodieallen.com/)
11. [Hoodie Allen - Leap Year review, Sputnikmusic](https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/44795/Hoodie-Allen-Leap-Year/)
12. [Hoodie Allen - All American review, Sputnikmusic](https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/49509/Hoodie-Allen-All-American/)
13. [Notre Dame Observer review of All American (2012)](https://archives.nd.edu/observer/v45/2012-04-26_v45-130.pdf)
14. [Hoodie Allen interview on artistic reinvention, XS Noize](https://www.xsnoize.com/interview-hoodie-allen-talks-his-artistic-reinvention-new-single-call-me-never/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Music scenes › Transnational genre scenes › Hip hop scenes worldwide › Artists, groups, and people: Hip hop scenes worldwide › East Coast rap (New York and Philadelphia) › East Coast rap's 2000s–2010s era*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license