Hoodie Allen is an aspiring rapper who has already come out with two mixtapes: Pep Rally and Leap Year. Both of these amazing mixtapes have been featured on college music websites, such as Good Music All Day and This Beat Is Sick, that specifically focus on rising rappers, bands, and other musicians and target high school and college-age students. Most of the music highlighted and discussed on these websites are free songs and mixtapes that musicians use to increase their popularity and "get their name out there". Hoodie Allen is one of these such artists, whose mixtapes can be legally downloaded for free. Although he is quite famous and popular on these "underground" websites, his talent should be much more widely known throughout the music industry. Hoodie Allen should no longer have to give his music away freely. He needs the popularity and support to make real albums and songs that can be purchased on Itunes, Amazon, and other music downloaders.
Hoodie Allen's mixtape, Pep Rally, is one of my all-time favorite mixtapes. I listen to it on repeat when I go snowboarding because the songs are upbeat, catchy, and fun. I can always be found snowboarding down the mountain and singing Hoodie Allen lyrics on the top of my lungs. All of Hoodie Allen's songs on Pep Rally are remixes and covers of other songs. He samples artists such as Marina and the Diamonds, Flight Facilities, and Two Door Cinema Club. His most famous song off of Pep Rally is called Swimming With Sharks, which is a remix of VV Brown's hit song, Shark in the Water. Not only does he credit VV Brown in the songs' artist, he also gives her a shout-out at the beginning of his song, saying "Say what up to VV Brown." This shows that Hoodie Allen is supportive of the musicians that he samples from and remixes. He always gives credit where credit is deserved by adding their name in the name of each specific song. Because he does not sell his mixtapes, and therefore makes no money from them, it is not necessary by law that he ask each artist for permission or add their name. But because he is such an honest guy, Hoodie Allen always asks permission. Not only is he nice to other musicians, but Hoodie Allen is also very nice to his fans and supporters.
Did I mention that Hoodie Allen tweeted to me? Yes, not only does this rapper have my full support of being an extremely talented musician, but he also has my full support of loving his fans. This fall, after spending a few hours listening to my 30+ Hoodie Allen songs that I have downloaded over the past year or so, I tweeted, "Hoodie Allen's 'Pep Rally' makes me so excited for snowboarding season," and I thought nothing of it. The next morning I woke up to a tweet from Hoodie Allen, "Hell yeah, me too!" It is not every day that a somewhat famous musician tweets to one of his fans- in fact it is very rare. So I did my basic stalking and read many of Hoodie Allen's previous tweets. I noticed something very uncommon for musicians: he had tweeted to many of his fans, thanking them for their support and their interest.
Hoodie Allen certainly has a large fan group, but he deserves more. His lyrics are interesting, his beats are catchy, and in several of his songs he does voice-overs to change his voice to an upbeat, electronic voice. This is displayed perfectly in my personal favorite song, You Are Not A Robot. Hoodie Allen has the necessary talent and has put in the necessary work to be the next hottest rapper, but luck has not gone his way so far. I urge everyone to check out his music and share his talent. He is a good guy and he should not go unnoticed.
