If we’re keeping it all the way 100, the schtick of rhyming in a car is beyond played out. Whatever “cool” factor it did possess probably decimated after Carpool Karaoke became your mom’s fav thing to share on Facebook. At least that’s what I thought, until I stumbled onto E-Class (21-years-old) and his younger brother Young Poppa (11-years-old). Collectively known as The Hoodies, they’ve taken a stale concept and (with sheer quality bars) spun it into national viral fame.
To be frank, I haven’t been this excited about a new artist in quite a while—especially not a group. Especially not a group from New York.
Their chemistry is ridiculous. If their recent appearance on Flex didn’t have you Googling “who the fuck are The Hoodies and why have I been sleeping,” let me help you out with some of their must-watch episodes of In The Whip, their ongoing YouTube series.
First up, episode 5; these cats ran through a sneaker scheme, a math scheme, and a fucking cartoon theme so seamlessly I had to watch this shit multiple times to catch the blends.
Next up, episode 4, which featured a surprise cameo by (perhaps) the only other emcees in recent memory with a back and forth chemistry as thick as these two, Styles P and Jadakiss.
Lastly, Young Poppa flamed one of my fav instrumentals “Banned From TV” in episode 7.
After binge-watching their videos, I couldn’t help but wonder what these two had in store. It’s rare to be so acknowledged without any actual songs or traditional videos out. “Mixtape dropping sooner then you think,” E-Class revealed to me. “It’s going to change the whole face of Hip-Hop.”
The way they tell it, this is in their blood. “I been rapping for almost 12 years now,” says E-Class. “I’ll be 21 in February, and I started at nine on a serious level.”
“Poppa got into rapping at a really young age,” E-Class continued. “I’m talking diapers young. He just loves everything about the culture. He loves NWA, Pac, Nas, and 50 Cent … he’s an old soul and very intelligent, so he knows how to put words together. Plus, I was a heavy influence on him.”
Young Poppa doesn’t dispute that last point. “[I’ve] been rapping since I was 4-years-old,” he says. “I came up watching my brother and learning from him.”
They have an aura of excitement surrounding them; you can just tell this is the calm before the storm. Any doubt of that was washed away when Ellen’s team reached out to the duo—literally on the strength of their videos—and asked them to appear on the show.
“We were in complete shock when they reached out,” E-Class says. “Even though we are passionate and believe in ourselves, we never thought we would be on Ellen … especially off of our In The Whip series.“
Since their Ellen appearance and their much-lauded performance on Hot 97 industry heads seem to have the duo under their microscope. “Labels have reached out … we can’t disclose too much information, but they know we out here killing it.”
Whether or not a bidding war is on the horizon has yet to be seen, but one thing for sure, it’s Hoodie season in more ways than one.
“We have our mixtape Family Business coming out real soon, music videos, and our In The Whip series is still killing the streets. We ain’t going nowhere anytime soon, so get used to hearing The Hoodies.”
