Steven Markowitz, better known under his stage-based pseudonym of "Hoodie Allen", first caught the music bug as a child. This New York based emcee is one of my current favorites and I've had numerous of his pop culturally-relevant songs with witty punchlines on repeat throughout the holiday season. At only 21 years old, Hoodie has a prime career in the music career waiting in the wings.
Hoodie sporting some hipster lens-less glasses.
But what impresses me most about this artist is his distinct style (if there is such a thing in music still). One could make comparisons to artists, and fellow contemporary artists, like Macklemore, Childish Gambino or XV, but Hoodie has definitely carved out his own lyrical niche in the rap/hip-hop world.
Also, make sure you check out Hoodie's soundcloud page here. Pretty much all of his songs are free to download. For any twitter people out there, Markowitz can be found at @hoodieallen.
