Hoodie Allen gives everybody something to chat about on his full-length debut, People Keep Talking. The fourteen songs bob and weave between technically tight bars, old school soul panache, a jazz-y swing, and undeniable pop appeal. It’s the same intoxicating musical concoction that solidified the New York MC as an independent sensation when he first formally arrived in 2009. Without a label or management, his 2012 EP All American landed in the Top 10 of Billboard’s Top 200, eventually moving over 100,000 units. In addition to sold out worldwide tours of his own, Hoodie’s also played shows alongside everybody from Passion Pit to Macklemore. Now, he’s poised to be a topic of conversation for a long time to come with People Keep Talking.

“On some level, the album is a commentary on the fact that there’s always going to be constant noise and communication in the world we live in,” Hoodie explains. “Especially being a musician, you get instant feedback on social media. Staying true to that same idea, I wanted to send out the message that you should do what makes you happy and follow what you’re passionate about regardless of whether or not other people support you. Regardless if you’re loved or hated, do what you do and be true to yourself.”

How many people can boast graduating an Ivy League college, University of Pennsylvania in Hoodie’s case, and working at Google? Not many. Each of these experiences impacted and influenced his perception, further fostering his own indie enterprise.

“I never expected to get to where I am,” he says. “Doing things independently means you have to be incredibly driven and strong willed. To this day, I still just take things step-by-step and do what feels right to me. That plays to an entrepreneurial background, which I love. I lived a double life at Google. I had a real world job, but I had my outside ambition. Everything contributes though. Working on the marketing and business of music myself, it’s like my own company and brand.”

In the end, he’s delivering something fans can live with. Hoodie concludes, “I wanted to give people something to escape to—that can be the perfect soundtrack to anything they go through on a daily basis. When a record connects to a part of someone else’s life, what more can you ask for?”