Rising Artist, Hoodie Allen, Chosen
By Katherine Chow
Hoodie Allen has created a stir across the Santa Clara campus since the announcement of the musical performers for the yearly Spring Concert, hosted by the Activities Programing Board on June 1.
D.J. John Hamilton will open the show, followed by Hoodie Allen and The Dean's List. A student is also in the works to perform, but no final negotiations have been decided.
Allen, a newcomer on the music scene, was chosen to perform based on Santa Clara's budget as well as a survey that the APB created.
Mark Wicker, the senior music director for the APB, explained that there is a specific process that goes into picking artists to perform for school concerts.
"We went on concertideas.com, a website promoting up-and-coming artists, considered each artists' pricing and availability and sent out a student survey through Facebook," said Wicker.
He also added that APB made the survey as an event on Facebook this year after deciding to branch out to social media this year. The survey basically consisted of asking participants the top two or three performers they wanted to see.
Within the Santa Clara community, Hoodie Allen has received "mixed reviews," according to Wicker. There are people who know who he is and people who do not even know that he is considered a hip-hop artist.
"I'm a fan and I remember visiting websites where they would post a lot of music from people who are up-and-coming artists that really appeal well to the college community, such as Hoodie Allen," said junior Kevin Galindo. "I would definitely go, (Hoodie's) songs are fun to party to, and I have a lot of friends who also like Hoodie Allen."
On the other hand, Russell White, also a junior at Santa Clara, expressed that he has not heard of Hoodie Allen before and that he is not going to attend the spring concert.
Wicker said that students should check out the songs "No Interruption" and "No Faith in Brooklyn" by Hoodie Allen.
While reactions to the acts picked this year were somewhat different, the spring concert is expected to be successful and entertaining.
Contact Katherine Chow at KLChow@scu.edu or (408) 554-4849.