Hoodie Allen

Стивен Марковиц (род. 19 августа 1988), более известный под своим сценическим псевдонимом Hoodie Allen, является независимым американским хип-​​хоп и рэп исполнителем.

The duo is made up of emcee Steve Markowitz (or Steve Witz) and deejay Samuel Obey. The pair have been active since 2009 and have released one mixtape (Makin Waves) and are currently working on a follow up, The Diamond Cuts. The Diamond Cuts is set to be released in August of 2010. The band has also released an EP, Bagels and Beats. All of their work is available for download free of charge on their Facebook page. Hoodie Allen has opened for Clipse at UPenn, their alma mater. The band cites «bagels, long island girls, and classic late 80’s television theme songs» as influences, as well as Outkast and Hall and Oates, for their brand of Summertime Hip Hop. The band claim their musical style sounds like «The Beastie Boys fornicated with Frank Sinatra and they had a child». Hoodie Allen seeks to create summertime anthems full of storytelling and witty punchlines. They have sampled artists such as Death Cab for Cutie, Marina & The Diamonds, and Pharcyde in their work. Steven Witz refers to himself as a «college-educated music nerd.» The duo has balanced the school workload with their music career, which allowed them to gain notoriety via «grassroots marketing» and «the power of a college network» which assisted them in their creation of a fan base. Hoodie Allen’s single «You Are Not A Robot» which sampled the song «I Am Not A Robot» by Marina and the Diamonds reached the number one spot on The Hype Machine, which displays the most commonly posted songs from over 1,500 music blogs. In the first 24 hours after the release of Hoodie Allen’s first mixtape, Makin Waves, the mixtape was downloaded over 4,000 times. Also, Hoodie Allen has surpassed 125,000 views on Myspace.