When: Thursday, Sept. 20
Doors: 8 p.m., Show: 9 p.m.
Where: The Blue Note
Hoodie Allen is Steven Markowitz, an independent American hip-hop and rap artist from New York City. We caught up with Hoodie via email on his Excellent Adventure Tour with G-Eazy, which hits Columbia on Thursday.
**[MOVE]**: Where did rap first infiltrate your life?
**[Hoodie Allen]** I think the first rap music I ever heard was some old Nas songs. My first rap CD was _Reflection Eternal_ though.
**[M]** You were a member of AEPi fraternity at the University of Pennsylvania, got a job at Google and then quit it all to become a rapper. So basically, you left one American dream for another. But you were already making serious dough, correct?
**[HA]** No amount of money could make up for the void I would have felt if I wasn’t doing music full-time. This is my passion, and it’s important to live what you love.
**[M]** When was it apparent that you wanted to legitimately pursue rapping and drop everything?
**[HA]** That had always been my dream, but I think the reaction to _You Are Not A Robot_ in 2009 put the reality back on my radar.
**[M]** Is it important to get that safety net of a degree before you do something as potentially risky as becoming a rap artist?
**[HA]** Everybody is different — I can only make the decision for what was right for myself. I wanted to be a college graduate, I wanted to get a high level of education, and I am happy that I did.
**[M]** So your fans are like, really, really passionate. Do you have any horror stories as far as interactions with overzealous fans go?
**[HA]** No horror stories — my fans are amazing and camp out for like eight hours before the show and make me amazing gifts. Nothing about their enthusiasm ever scares me.
**[M]** What’s your creative process like?
**[HA]** Just always writing and working with the close friends who love the music we make. There is no secret recipe to it but putting in the time.
**[M]** What song did you have the most fun creating?
**[HA]** “No Faith In Brooklyn” is fun because I got to have Jhameel contribute and bring his vocals to the words in my head, and he just made it amazing.
**[M]** I recently heard someone describe your product as “frat rap.” How do you feel about that? Would you agree with that moniker?
**[HA]** Nope. I am not a partier at all, haha. I can understand frat kids loving my music because it’s fun and upbeat. I strive to make people happy, but I hate what that term implies about context of the music.
**[M]** You’re a #whitegirlproblems solver. How many #whitegirlproblems have you solved this week?
**[HA]** If I had a dollar for every white girl problem I solved, I wouldn’t need rap money.
**[M]** What’s the most memorable one you’ve solved?
**[HA]** Making all the white girls forget about their exes.
**[M]** There are a lot of sorority girls here, and they’ve got lots of sorority girl probs. Are you exclusively a #whitegirlproblems solver or are you open to solving various groups of female probs? What about GDI probs?
**[HA]** I can adapt to any situation of problem solving — this is why I went to college.