We Asked Hoodie Allen What His Inspiration Was For His New Album ‘People Keep Talking’ And His Response Was Intense

With the advent of independent artists, ingenuity is making a comeback. Among the artists leading the way into this quickly growing era of musical opportunity is rapper Hoodie Allen, whose sophomore album, People Keep Talking, released two weeks ago.

A highly relatable and inherently cohesive album, People Keep Talking is a 15-track project that amassed over 30,000 sales in its first week. Led by Hoodie Allen’s story-telling rhymes, experimental production, and effective self-promotion, its arrival confirms the New York native as a firmly established musician who derives vitality from a loyal fan-base and an unrelenting focus on the live music aesthetic. Further capitalizing upon his previous LP, All American, which catapulted his career, People Keep Talking presents an evolved Hoodie Allen whose remarkable development puts forth his best material to date while re-enforcing the conversation that signing a major record deals is not absolutely necessary for success.

As Hoodie Allen embarks on his nation-wide tour and rolls out his upcoming singles with fresh music videos, he linked with BroBIble for an exclusive Q&A where he discusses his personal influences, People Keep Talking‘s production credits, and even offers advice to aspiring musicians. Check out the interview below, and be sure to catch Hoodie Allen performing live on his People Keep Talking Tour coming to a city near you!

BroBible: How did your career in music start and who were your influences growing up?

I guess the ‘career’ part started when I left my job at Google to work full time as a touring musician and artist. Anytime before then I can’t technically say it was my job though I’ve been doing music since I was 13. My influences growing up were pretty varied, everything from Atmosphere and Outkast to Sum 41 and Blink.

People Keep Talking is your sophomore album. Where did you draw your inspiration for PKT and how has your music evolved over the past 2 years?

I see it sort of as my debut full length but yeah the All American EP sort of took on a life of its own making it my first proper release. PKT was definitely inspired by how my life has changed over the past two years and my mentality and attitude on a number of things from relationships to my job to society in general and how we interact with one another.

Explain the story behind your album title, People Keep Talking. Was there a specific theme or motif that you touch on throughout the album?

I think the grandiose idea behind the album for me is self-perseverance and trusting yourself to make decisions amongst the sea of voices that weigh in on your life, whether personal or on the Internet. It’s so easy for people to give their 2 cents and I just want to remind kids that their opinion matters and I try to tell stories to illustrate what I’ve gone through that represents that.

Tell us about your producing process in general. Which song(s) off the album that are you most proud of and why?

Most of the album was made with two producers: RJF and Parrish Warrington. We’d write in Parrish’s apartment in Brooklyn and we just vibed on ideas and let them build naturally. The songs I’m most proud of on this album from a production standpoint are ‘Show Me What Youre Made Of’, ‘All About It’ and “Get It On The Low” and lyrically “Against Me” and “100 percent of something.’

“Act My Age” would be the soundtrack for what movie?

Van Wilder lol

Give the names of the artists that you collaborated with and what unlikely learning experiences came about from working with them?

Got to work with my good friend Ed Sheeran, it was really awesome he’s such a good writer it was almost intimidating but it just taught me again to be confident in myself because he loved my ideas and we ended up being really collaborative on the track. MAX was also really great to work with because he’s such a talented singer and he really brought my vision to life in a way that I couldn’t on “Against M”e and “Wont Mind.”

As an indie artist, you put out 3 music videos pre-release. How has social media helped your career to develop and what advice could you offer to aspiring producers?

Social media has played a cruical impact but I think that’s sort of obvious for all people now unless you are birthed at radio. My advice is don’t spam people. Put out stuff you believe in and when people gravitate towards it then capitalize on making those fans life long fans, don’t just spam people to listen to your song, no one wants that.

If you could have a super-power what would it be?

I think being able to fly would be rad as fuck.

What’s your master plan now that the album is officially out? Any surprises for your upcoming tour?

Well it’s going to be my biggest tour to date so I’m pretty stoked on that. Things with the album are just beginning I just want people to enjoy it and listen by any means they choose and hopefully keep interacting with me. I love being able to wake up and do this everyday.

Purchase Tickets: Hoodie Allen – People Keep Talking Tour