I (Ivo) am writing this out of memories, but I can also tell that the lofi and chillhop producers were among the nicest people we got to talk to. That was followed by finding channels like Chilled Cow, College Music, Ryan Celsius, NEOTIC to name a few. We often partners on premieres in the early days and talking to Bas and co was very eye-opening. For us, it was Chillhop Music who firstly introduced the genre. Spotify was just picking up and Apple Music was not yet launched. I guess in those years it was YouTube and partially SoundCloud that brought this whole thing to the forefront of the Internet. The whole raise to power of the genre and memes kinda somehow passed through us and one day we just realized that's not this niche genre that we stumbled upon a few years back.
How The Lofi Hip Hop Radio to Relax/Study Took Over The InternetĪs we mentioned in the beginning, we got into the lofi and chillhop scene towards the end of 2014 and it was simply because of the love for the sound and the approachability of the artists that it eventually became a frequent sound in our feed. By naming something you create a difference through providing an identity and making it real. This may sound relatively obvious but it was necessary to the growth of the scene. Because there was a general name conceived of the low fidelity beats that were released, plenty of music producers began to explore what the genre ‘unofficial’ genre had in store. The actual rise of the term lofi hip hop played a massive role. And ultimately, lofi hip hop combines elements of lofi and hip hop with sampling playing at the core of it’s approach In their time, their works were simply described as beats/instrumentals or just slotted into the hip hop category. The producers that were significant when it came to the proliferation of the lofi sound in hip hop include Pete Rock, J Dilla, Nujabes, and DJ Shadow to name a few. Sonically speaking, hip hop pretty much started off as lofi and boom-bap serves as a shining example of that sentiment. When we discuss the history of lofi hip hop it’s vital to keep in mind that this actually isn’t a new occurrence. My point with this is that lofi hip hop may potentially be the contemporary DIY musical movement alongside genres like vaporwave and bedroom pop. The 1960s and 70s saw the genesis of Garage Rock and Punk respectively, then came the upsurge of Indie and House in the 80s. Lofi HistoryĪs the years go by, a phenomenon that is beautiful to watch is how a particular generation ushers in a prolific DIY music movement that eventually becomes a staple.
Something which also has to pop up in mind when we speak about lofi hip hop is community, the type of feelings that these astonishingly minimalist tracks are able to evoke, and the range of tongue-in-cheek visuals that accommodate this contemporary subculture. Although, you’re only looking at a miniscule piece of the puzzle by attempting to make sense, and describe modern day lofi according to its sonic elements. And this is relates to production quality that is somewhat shoddy, including the abstinence from polish and sheen since vinyl crackles, distortion and peculiar rhythms are found in abundance. The core nature of lofi is of course low fidelity. These artists treaded uncharted ground through purposefully incorporating imperfections in their works – the kind that truly challenged the listener even after they gained the ears of a more commercial audience.įast-forward to now, the rise of lofi hip hop / chill study beats has consequently changed the way many perceive the overall term of lofi, especially if we consider the association with hip hop. In the past, acts such as Ariel Pink, Beck, and even Portishead were tagged with the coveted label of lofi. What’s the first thing that pops into your head when I mention the term “ lofi”? The chances are high that ‘ study beats’, ‘ lofi hip hop’ or even an image of an anime girl who’s hyper focused on her studies crosses your mind. This article is ours ( Lu and Ivo's) take on the lofi hip hop genre and trying to put our knowledge and observations into what we hope ends up a well-written and informative article, especially for those who are not that caught up with what's been going on.
While we're not a beat niche website, a great deal of the artists we follow and cover starting 2014/15 dwell or started off as lofi producers. While when we started Stereofox back in 2013 the instrumental and beat-driven music on the website was rather scarce, it wasn't long before we uncovered the peacefulness lofi and chillhop music were bringing on the table.
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