Hobo Johnson
Hobo Johnson
Frank Lopes, better known as Hobo Johnson, is a musician and rapper based in Sacramento, California. He as been called a "Hipster Rapper."
Early Life
Hobo Johnson in his NPR Tiny Desk Submission for the song "Peach Scone"
Lopes is originally from Loomis, California and attended Del Oro High School. During his youth, Lopes describes himself as "a bad kid" and was kicked out of high school while battling a drinking problem. Lopes said about himself, “By the time I was 17, I had three drunk-in-public (arrests) and a DUI. I was mean to my teachers. I was really disrespectful. I tried to be the class clown, but I did it all rude.”
Stuggle and Music Beginnings
Hobo Johnson- Romeo & Juliet (Live from Oak Park)
When he was 19, Lopes was kicked out of his house by his father and Stepmom and lived in the back of his 1994 Toyota Corolla. He was working at a Rocklin pizza Parlor and used a 24 Hour Fitness to shower.
During this struggle, Lopes decided to embrace the persona of Hobo Johnson, a hipster rapper who is scrappy yet sincere.
Although hip-hop was the foundation of his music, Lopes was influenced by folk-punk bands such as The Front Bottoms as well as other groups who are confessional, self-conscious, and bring a low-fi atmosphere.
In 2015 when his head gasket blew up in his Corolla, Lopes moved to the Oak Park neighborhood of Sacramento to continue his music career. He went on to release two albums, "1994 Toyoya Corolla" in 2015 and "The Rise of Hobo Johnson" in 2016.
Lopes' began to receive attention after starting his "Love From Oak Park" series in December 2016 where Lopes would perform in the raggedy backyard of Derek Lynch, the guitarist in Lopes’ backing band The Lovemakers.
The recordings went viral in the local Sacramento Music Scene and would receive hundreds of thousands of views of YouTube.