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.