Lofi hip hop (also typeset as lo-fi, short for "low fidelity") is a style of

lo-fi music Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate stylistic ch ...

that combines

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

beats with elements of

chill-out Chill-out (shortened as chill; also typeset as chillout or chill out) is a loosely defined form of popular music characterized by slow tempos and relaxed moods. The definition of "chill-out music" has evolved throughout the decades, and generally ...

. The name refers to the unpolished, low fidelity production techniques common in the style. It was popularized in the 2010s on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

Characteristics

According to Phillip Sherburne of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'', the genre is characterized by "poky

tempos In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given composition, and is often also an indication of the composition's character or atmos ...

, cloying

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

or guitar

melodies A melody (), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of pitch and rhythm, while more figuratively, the term ca ...

ersatz An ersatz good () is a substitute good, especially one that is considered inferior to the good it replaces. It has particular connotations of wartime usage. Etymology ''Ersatz'' is a German word meaning ''substitute'' or ''replacement''. Altho ...

vinyl hiss, and other signifiers of inoffensive chill." Sherburne also stated that the genre is "the musical equivalent of a white-noise coloring book."

Etymology

The genre name originates from the low fidelity ("

lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate stylistic ch ...

") aesthetic of the music, which tends to be deliberately less "polished" than

high fidelity High fidelity (hi-fi or, rarely, HiFi) is the high-quality reproduction of sound. It is popular with audiophiles and home audio enthusiasts. Ideally, high-fidelity equipment has inaudible noise and distortion, and a flat (neutral, uncolored) ...

("hi-fi") music and features audio imperfections, distorted sound quality, and less professional audio equipment. Lo-fi hip-hop originated within the underground beatmaking hip-hop scene of the 2000s, particularly after the advent of

Roland SP-303 The Boss Dr. Sample SP-303 is a discontinued digital sampler from Boss, successor of the Boss SP-202 Dr. Sample. The SP-303 was revamped and redesigned in 2005, and released as the SP-404, by Roland Corporation. Features While the Dr. Sample ...

and

Roland SP-404 The Roland SP-404 Sampling Workstation is a sampler made by Roland Corporation. Released in 2005, it is part of the SP family and successor to where Boss Corporation’s SP-505 sampler left off. The sampler was succeeded by the SP-555 in 200 ...

samplers, each of which featured the "lo-fi" effect as a separate button. The 2004 MF Doom and

Madlib Otis Lee Jackson Jr. (born October 24, 1973), known professionally as Madlib, is an American record producer, DJ, multi-instrumentalist, and rapper. Critically acclaimed for his eclectic, music sample, sample-heavy production style, he is rega ...

album ''

Madvillainy ''Madvillainy'' is the only studio album by American hip-hop duo Madvillain, consisting of British-American rapper MF Doom and American record producer Madlib. It was released on March 23, 2004, by Stones Throw Records. The album was recor ...

'' is regarded as a "shared touchstone" for lo-fi hip-hop. The Japanese artist

Nujabes , born , better known by his stage name Nujabes (; ), was a Japanese record producer, audio engineer, DJ, composer and arranger best known for his atmospheric instrumental mixes sampling from Japanese hip hop, hip hop, soul music, soul, and jazz, a ...

, often called the "godfather of lofi hip hop", is also credited with driving lofi's growth with his contributions to the soundtrack for the popular anime ''

Samurai Champloo is a 2004 Japanese historical adventure anime television series. The debut television production of studio Manglobe, the 26-episode series aired from May 2004 to March 2005. It was first partially broadcast on Fuji TV, then had a complete a ...

''. Another artist also often associated with the development of lofi are US rappers and producers

J Dilla James Dewitt Yancey (February 7, 1974 – February 10, 2006), better known by the stage names J Dilla and Jay Dee, was an American record producer, composer and rapper. He emerged from the mid-1990s underground hip hop scene in Detroit, Michiga ...

and

Danny! Daniel Keith Swain (born August 18, 1983), known mononymously as Danny!, is an American rapper, record producer, singer, and composer. Swain rose to prominence after his debut performance on ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'', where he premiered h ...

, particularly the latter's ''Dream...'' instrumental trilogy.

Emergence and popularity

In 2013,

began hosting

live stream Livestreaming, live-streaming, or live streaming is the streaming of video or audio in real time or near real time. While often referred to simply as ''streaming'', the real-time nature of livestreaming differentiates it from other non- live ...

s, which resulted in 24-hour "radio stations" dedicated to microgenres such as

vaporwave Vaporwave is a microgenre of electronic music, a visual art style, and an Internet meme that emerged in the early 2010s and became well-known in 2015. It is defined partly by its slowed-down, chopped and screwed samples of smooth jazz, 1970 ...

. Compilation videos are also popular, combining the music with visuals that could take the form of recorded pedestrian walks through major cities like Tokyo, looping visuals from cartoons such as ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

'' or Internet memes.

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

added to the popular "lo-fi beats" wave by generating "Spotified genres", including "Chill Hits", "

Bedroom Pop Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or music production, production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a delibe ...

" playlists, and promoting numerous "chill pop" artists. In 2015, a form of downtempo music tagged as "chillhop" or "lo-fi hip hop" became popular among YouTube music streamers. Most, if not all, of the content used in YouTube videos was primarily published on

SoundCloud SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...

. By 2018, several of these channels had millions of followers. One DJ,

Ryan Celsius Ryan Celsius (stylized as R y a n C e l s i u s °) is the pseudonym of a Washington, D.C.–based music curator, disc jockey, video artist, music producer and YouTuber. His YouTube channel features visual mixtapes, combining underground hip h ...

, theorized that they were inspired by a nostalgia for the

commercial bumper In broadcasting, a commercial bumper, ident bumper, or break-bumper (often shortened to bump) is a brief announcement, usually two to fifteen seconds in length that can contain a voice over, placed between a pause in the program and its commercia ...

s used by ''

Toonami Toonami ( ) is an American late-night television programming block that broadcasts Japanese anime and American action animation. It was created by Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco and currently produced by Williams Street, a subsidiary of W ...

'' and ''

Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as

dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representativ ...

and s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...

'' in the 2000s, and that this "created a cross section of people that enjoyed both

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

and wavy hip-hop beats". These channels equally functioned as chatrooms, with participants often discussing their personal struggles. By 2018, Spotify's "Chill Hits" playlist had 5.4 million listeners and had been growing rapidly. Winkie credited YouTube user

Lofi Girl Lofi Girl (formerly ChilledCow until 2021) is a French YouTube channel and Record label, music label established in 2017. It provides Live streams, livestreams of Lofi hip hop, lo-fi hip hop music 24/7, accompanied by a Anime-influenced animatio ...

(formerly known as "ChilledCow") as "the person who first featured a studious anime girl as his calling card, which set up the aesthetic framework for the rest of the people operating in the genre". Lo-fi as a genre builds upon two subgenres: hip hop and ambient, both of which create a calm experience, common for studying or relaxation. Viewership of lo-fi hip hop streams grew significantly during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In April 2020,

MTV News MTV News was the news production division of MTV. The service was available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network and an online news team. In 2016, MTV refreshed the MTV News brand to compete with the likes of BuzzFeed and ...

noted, "there might be something to be said for lo-fi hip-hop's composition, and the way its creators mix simplistic melodies with a judicious use of words to create intense memories, feelings, and nostalgia" and stated that the quarantine in place in various countries "has led people to log more hours online due to boredom or virtual workplaces and schools, and livestreamed music performances are reaching their full potential". Most listeners of the genre classify as University students due to their "profound interest in relaxation and emotional exploration" as well as the genre's relaxing nature.

References

{{Easy listening 21st-century music genres 2000s in music 2010s in music 2020s in music Microgenres Hip-hop genres Lo-fi music