Frank Lopes Jr., (born December 22, 1994) known professionally as Hobo Johnson, is an American vocalist and frontman of Hobo Johnson & the LoveMakers.[3]
Hobo Johnson | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Frank Lopes Jr. |
Born | December 22, 1994 |
Genres | |
Occupation | Vocalist |
Years active | 2015 - present |
Labels | Reprise Records, Warner Records |
Website | www |
Personal life
Lopes is a Mexican/Portuguese-American from California.[4] When he was 19, he was kicked out of his house by his father and subsequently lived in his car.[5] For a stretch of time, Lopes worked at a pizza restaurant in Sacramento, but he soon quit to pursue his passion for music.[6] He is a fan of the Sacramento Kings, and has referenced them multiple times in the lyrics to his songs, most notably in the song "Sacramento Kings Anthem (We're Not That Bad)", written about the struggles the Kings have in the NBA.
Music career
At age 15, Lopes began performing music and hip-hop.[7][8] He came up with his stage name "Homeless Johnson" but soon made it "Hobo Johnson" while living in his car, a 1994 Toyota Corolla, and named his 2015 debut album in honor of his car.[9][10] Starting in December 2016, he released a series of live recordings on YouTube subtitled "Live from Oak Park".[11]
In 2016, he released the album The Rise of Hobo Johnson independently, but later created a new version of the album in 2017 which had changes to the production and a different tracklist. After the release of the second version of "The Rise Of Hobo Johnson", Lopes signed to Reprise Records. That year, he won four Sacramento Area Music Awards: Artist of the Year, Best Hip-Hop/Rap, Best Emcee and Best New Artist.[12]
Hobo Johnson and the LoveMakers released a music video on Facebook as part of NPR's Tiny Desk Contest on March 7, 2018.[13][14] The song "Peach Scone" collected millions of views in just a few weeks.[15] Following the attention of the "Peach Scone" video, their album The Rise of Hobo Johnson charted at #11 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart for the week ending March 31, 2018.[16] At this time, Lopes also drew criticism from the Sacramento chapter of Black Lives Matter, who accused him of using Oak Park's name without consent and of cultural appropriation.[17] On May 12, they staged a small protest that delayed the beginning of his sold-out show at Sacramento's Ace of Spades nightclub.[18]
While not winning the Tiny Desk Contest, Hobo Johnson & the LoveMakers appeared on Tiny Desk on an episode released on September 12, 2018.[19]
In 2018, the band toured North America and Europe and appeared at Australia's Falls Music & Arts Festival. In 2019, the band appeared at Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee.[20]
In 2019 he released the singles "Typical Story" and "UglyKid" from the album The Fall of Hobo Johnson, which was released by Warner Records on September 13, 2019.[21] That same day, EA Sports released the video game NHL 20, which featured the single “Typical Story.”
Hobo Johnson & the LoveMakers
Current members[22]
- Frank Lopes Jr. – lead vocals, guitar, keyboards, production
- Derek Lynch – guitar
- Jordan Moore – guitar, keyboards
- David Baez-Lopez – bass guitar
- Ben Lerch – drums
- Jmsey – keyboard, guitar
Discography
Studio albums
- Hobo Johnsons 94 Corolla (2015)
- The Rise of Hobo Johnson (2016, re-released in 2017 on Reprise Records)
- The Fall of Hobo Johnson (2019, Warner Records) No. 99 US,[23] No. 98 UK[24]
- The Revenge of Hobo Johnson (2021)[25]
Singles
- "Peach Scone" (2018)
- "February 15th" (2018)
- "Typical Story" (2019) – No. 30 US Hot Rock Songs,[26] No. 25 US Alternative Songs[27]
References
- ^ http://www.riffmagazine.com/album-reviews/the-fall-of-hobo-johnson/
- ^ https://x1075lasvegas.radio.com/blogs/emerge-2019-defense-hobo-johnson
- ^ Ayestas, Jonathan. "Hobo Johnson: Born From A Corolla Into A Life Of Music".
- ^ Fitzmaurice, Larry (November 16, 2018). "Hobo Johnson Is About to Be Huge". www.vulture.com. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
- ^ Smith, Jordan (June 5, 2018). "Hobo Johnson Is Painting His Future With Train-of-Thought Rapping". Ones to Watch. Live Nation. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
- ^ Macias, Chris (January 27, 2017). "Hobo Johnson finds his home in hip-hop". The Sacramento Bee. ISSN 0890-5738. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
- ^ Carnes, Aaron (October 6, 2016). "Hobo Johnson's new kind of swagger". Sacramento News & Review. Sacramento, CA. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
- ^ Ayestas, Jonathan. "Hobo Johnson: Born From A Corolla Into A Life Of Music".
- ^ Who the heck is Hobo Johnson?, April 12, 2018, retrieved June 14, 2018
- ^ Lopes, Frank. "Fame By The Flame - Hobo Johnson" (Interview).
- ^ McGough, Michael (May 29, 2018). "Hobo Johnson apologizes after Black Lives Matter calls him cultural appropriator". The Sacramento Bee. Sacramento, CA. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
- ^ Ayestas, Jonathan. "Hobo Johnson: Born From A Corolla Into A Life Of Music".
- ^ Harris, Noel (March 13, 2018). "How a Sacramento 'Hobo' racked up millions of views with his music video". Sacramento Bee.
- ^ "Hipster Rapper Hobo Johnson Is Going Viral — & It's All Thanks To THIS Music Video!". March 20, 2018.
- ^ Gardner, Kacey. "Sacramento Rapper Hobo Johnson's Tiny Desk Contest Entry Goes Viral".
- ^ "Heatseekers Albums: Up and Coming Musicians Chart".
- ^ McGough, Michael (May 29, 2018). "Hobo Johnson apologizes after Black Lives Matter calls him cultural appropriator". The Sacramento Bee. Sacramento, CA. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
- ^ Bealum, Ngaio (May 24, 2018). "About that Hobo Johnson protest". Sacramento News & Review. Sacramento, CA. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
- ^ Miller, Nick (September 12, 2018). "Watch Sacramento's Hobo Johnson On NPR's 'Tiny Desk Concert' (Spoiler: There's Scones)". Capital Public Radio. Sacramento, CA. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
- ^ Miller, Nick (September 12, 2018). "Watch Sacramento's Hobo Johnson On NPR's 'Tiny Desk Concert' (Spoiler: There's Scones)". Capital Public Radio. Sacramento, CA. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
- ^ "Hobo Johnson Goes Jazzy On New Single 'UglyKid' From His Next Album". CoolAccidents.com. Cool Accidents. July 24, 2019. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
- ^ WEIDENBAUM, MARC (June–July 2019). "The Fall & Rise of Hobo Johnson". SacTown Magazine. Sacramento, CA: Metropolis Publishing. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
- ^ @billboardcharts (September 23, 2019). "Debuts on this week's #Billboard200 (2/2)" (Tweet). Retrieved September 24, 2019 – via Twitter.
- ^ "Hobo Johnson | full Official Chart history". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
- ^ https://www.instagram.com/p/COWdK2WjlRQ/
- ^ "Hot Rock Songs - Week of July 6, 2019". Billboard. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
- ^ "Alternative Songs: September 14, 2019". Billboard. Retrieved September 10, 2019.