Anna Majidson

Steven Markowitz (born August 19, 1988), better known by his stage name Hoodie Allen, is an independent American rapper. Steven Markowitz was born in New York City and raised in a Jewish household in Plainview, Long Island along with his brother, Daniel. He started writing lyrics as a child, and would perform raps for his friends at house parties. Allen first attended the Long Island School for the Gifted in Huntington Station, and later attended Plainview – Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School. Growing up, his nickname was "Hoodie." He wanted a rapper name that "would stick in peoples' minds and be a little bit funny and representative of who I am," so he settled on "Hoodie Allen," a play off of famed Jewish filmmaker Woody Allen. While attending the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Allen was a brother of Alpha Epsilon Pi. 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.