Hoodie Allen cannot be denied. It’s not that he cleverly chops & samples notable indie songs on his tracks — Chiddy Bang & The Hood Internet have been doing that for years. It’s not any kind of novelty of being a white rapper (which he is). It’s not his ability to craft a catchy hook — pop music is full of catchy hooks where you bob your head for a second just before you begin shaking your head in shame.
No, as with any good emcee, it’s the rhymes… His witty verse and rapid-fire delivery is playfully fitting of his age (21) yet intelligently beyond it. His wordplay is plain wicked. Whether he is name checking Bernie Madoff or Karl Malone, rhyming “play me” with “Sam Raimi” or devoting an entire track to his obsession of January Jones, no one packs more pop culture references into a single verse than Hoodie Allen.
But back to the samples… KCRW fans will get a kick out of his latest mixtape ‘Pep Rally’, where he interpolates songs from many KCRW-friendly artists like The Black Keys, VV Brown, Death Cab For Cutie, Cold War Kids and Marina & the Diamonds.
Check out the track, Tighten Up, that I have featured on my show. You can check it yourself and download the entire mixtap for free at www.timeforthepeprally.com. U rah rah!