Just recently, independent hip-hop recording artist Hoodie Allen released a new album called Happy Camper. This album has 10 songs, which include “Are U Having Any Fun?,” “Surprise Party,” and “Champagne and Pools” just to name a few. This is Allen’s second album to be released on iTunes, but one of the few he has on Soundcloud.

Hoodie Allen started as an underground artist, solely releasing music on Soundcloud. As he became more popular, Allen dropped an album on iTunes which was issued as People Keep Talking in 2014.

Beginning with “Champagne and Pools,” which is my favorite song in the album this new album, features Blackbear, who sings the chorus, and Kyle who has his own verse. The slow beat mixed with Allen’s and Kyle fairly fast paced rapping makes for a different style that I personally like. The slow pace allows them to make their own flow and it just sounds so right.

Another one of my favorites is “Intro to Anxiety.” In this song, Hoodie Allen talks about things he gets anxiety over, and the types of things that gets to him. In this song there are many little things that he mentions that anyone can relate to, including people my age.

In the chorus he says “Sometimes I lay awake and can’t go to sleep.” I, myself,  sometimes sitting up late with my mind racing with thoughts. Things like homework, quizzes or tests the next day, college, grades, work, chores, all the teenage burdens and the things my parents ask of me always comes to mind.

My third favorite is “Remind Me Of” which talks about Allen as a 17 year-old, and what he went through when he was coming to fame. It gives you a quick run through as to what his life was like trying to become the next hip-hop artist, yet maintaining a catchy beat for the song.

Happy Camper is one of my favorite albums Allen has made so far, and it really shows his progress from when he first started to where he is now. I’m excited to see what he has stored for us in the future, and can’t wait for his next album. If you want to listen to “Happy Camper” you can listen for free on his Soundcloud profile (but not on the school wifi).