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Lo-fi

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Lo-fi, short for low fidelity, describes a quality of music production where elements typically considered imperfections in recording or performance are present, sometimes intentionally. Sound quality standards have changed over time, so older examples might not have been originally termed "lo-fi." The term gained recognition as a popular music style in the 1990s and was also called DIY music. Some lo-fi music is noted for its perceived nostalgic or relaxing qualities, stemming from its inherent imperfections.

Historically, lo-fi includes elements like misplayed notes, environmental sounds, or phonographic flaws such as degraded audio, tape hiss, and other signal issues. Artists such as the Beach Boys (on Smiley Smile and Wild Honey), R. Stevie Moore, Paul McCartney (on McCartney), Todd Rundgren, Lee Scratch Perry, Peter Ivers, Jandek, Daniel Johnston, Neutral Milk Hotel, Guided by Voices, Sebadoh, Beck, Pavement, and Ariel Pink are considered significant in lo-fi.

William Berger, a WFMU disc jockey, is often credited with popularizing the term "lo-fi" in 1986, although "lo-fi" as a concept existed alongside "high fidelity" for a similar duration. Since the 1980s, lo-fi has been associated with cassette culture, the DIY ethic of punk, primitivism, outsider music, authenticity, slacker/Generation X stereotypes, and cultural nostalgia. The rise of digital audio workstations expanded the idea of "bedroom" musicians, leading to the term bedroom pop. In the late 2000s, lo-fi aesthetics influenced the vaporwave, chillwave, and hypnagogic pop genres.

Since the 2010s, "lo-fi" gained popularity on platforms like YouTube and is often used to describe lofi hip-hop, a subgenre of downtempo that combining hip-hop beats with chill-out elements. The name refers to the deliberately unpolished, low fidelity production techniques featuring audio imperfections and less professional equipment. Lofi hip hop originated in the underground beatmaking hip-hop scene of the 2000s, particularly with the Roland SP-303 and Roland SP-404 samplers, which included a "lo-fi" effect. The 2004 album Madvillainy by MF DOOM and Madlib is a noted work in this style. The Japanese artist Nujabes is often called the "godfather of lofi hip-hop" for his influence, including his work on the Samurai Champloo soundtrack. US artists J Dilla and Danny!, especially the latter's Dream... instrumental trilogy, are also associated with the development of lofi hip hop.

History[]

Generally, Lo-Fi's origins as a musical genre can be traced back to Hip-Hop. The American musician J Dilla and the Japanese musician Nujabes were both prominent influences on Lo-Fi music, as both utilized a sound inspired by producers such as Pete Rock and DJ Premier with a warm, vintage quality taken from vinyl records; while many claim them to be the "godfathers of Lo-Fi," however, it is a misnomer to say they "created" the genre.

Lo-Fi's rise in popularity coincides with the rise in popularity of Cartoon Network's late night [adult swim] block, which used many downtempo Hip-Hop beats for their Bumpers (the black screens with white text they'll air between programming and commercials), as well as airing Shinichiro Watanabe's Samurai Champloo (2004), whose theme song and soundtrack were done by the aforementioned Nujabes, along with Fat Jon, Force of Nature, and Tsutchie.

On March 18, 2015, the YouTube channel Lofi Girl joined YouTube[1]. The channel is one of the most popular ways of discovering the genre. The channel hosts 24-hour music streams of this type of music all day, as well as themed playlists. As of May 2023, the channel has over 1.5 billion views.[1]

Visuals[]

Lo-Fi aesthetics often take on the color palette of Vaporwave and the imagery associated with anime aesthetics, then utilize various Vintage-inspired tones and filters to create an experience that can evoke a nostalgic feeling in the viewer. Colors that typically appear vivid in photographs and drawings will instead be de-saturated and toned down, resulting in a dated or faded appearance (like it's from some time between the 1970s to the 2000s in the pre-HD era). The use of pastels is also commonly incorporated into Lo-fi visuals, often giving the visuals a dreamy, nostalgic appearance. As with Lo-Fi music, the intentional degradation of image quality is also commonplace. Techniques such as the addition of visual noise, decreased contrast, static filters, and even chromatic aberration may be used for this purpose. While easily confused with Vaporwave, there are several key differences between the two, notably Vaporwave's more prevalent usage of computer-generated and surreal settings in combination with highly saturated colors compared to Lo-Fi's generally more grounded-in-reality visuals. To add to the longing and nostalgic vibe of Lo-Fi, oftentimes images of vintage toys, dead malls, old VHS tapes, and old photos can be utilized to elicit this effect as well.

Lately, a lot of Indie aesthetics seem to take a lot of notes from the Lo-Fi aesthetic, so it can be easy to confuse the two, but the most important distinction is Indie tends to have more of a Rock flavor to its aesthetics while Lo-Fi might go in a slightly pop direction. It's also not uncommon to see a lot of After Hours or Golden Hour aesthetics blend in with Lo-Fi or to utilize Lo-Fi artists to aid in creating the relaxed vibe it's going for.

Fashion[]

Fashion-wise, Lo-Fi is forgiving and flexible; as long as it looks good in a VHS or Polaroid-style filter, one can wear almost anything and look good without having to spend too much money. Vaporwave, Mallgoth, Hip-Hop, VSCO, Preppy, Indie, E-Girl/E-Boy, Softgirl/Softboy, Kawaii, Synthwave, Thriftcore, Hippie, Normcore, and many others, have an increased appeal with a Lo-Fi filter placed over it. The most common version of Lo-Fi fashion, however, involves vintage-styled clothes with a washed-out/dull appearance or upcycling/thrifting old pieces into something new to aid in this Lo-Fi style.

Media[]

TV Shows[]

  • Adventure Time
  • Animaniacs
  • The Boondocks
  • The Bugs Bunny Show
  • Courage the Cowardly Dog
  • Cowboy Bebop
  • Dexter's Laboratory
  • Digimon (S 1-2)
  • Duck Tales
  • Ed, Edd, n Eddy
  • Johnny Bravo
  • Looney Tunes
  • Pokémon (S 1-8)
  • The Powerpuff Girls
  • Rocko's Modern Life
  • Rugrats
  • Sailor Moon
  • Samurai Champloo
  • Scooby-Doo
  • The Simpsons
  • Space Ghost Coast to Coast
  • SpongeBob SquarePants (S 1-3)
  • Steven Universe
  • Tom & Jerry
  • Totally Spies
  • Urusei Yatsura
  • Anthology series such as Nickelodeon's Special Delivery, MTV's Liquid Television, ABC's Weekend Specials.

Games[]

Musical Subgenres[]

There are many primary genres of Lo-Fi music, but all share the feature of heavy usage of intentional sound quality degradation to achieve a more analog feel. High frequencies are also commonly avoided or minimized through things such as EQ and Low-Pass filters, resulting in a muted, low-intensity aura. Some of the types of Lo-Fi genres include seasonal mixes, as well as feelings (such as sad, lonely, and joyous). Lo-fi summer mixes are the most common.

Lo-fi Hip-Hop[]

Study_to_-_Rick_and_Morty_-_adult_swim

Study to - Rick and Morty - adult swim

By far the most popular of the Lo-Fi musical aesthetics, Lo-Fi Hip-Hop is a predominantly instrumental genre primarily designed to evoke feelings of nostalgia or calm. This genre commonly features songs with low and mid-tempos between 70s and 90s beats per minute, with 85 being a particularly common choice among artists. Samples from anime or other sources of recorded speech are frequently inserted into this music, and, while far less common, singing and rapping do occasionally appear in the genre as well. It is not to be confused with chillhop, a closely related jazz-based hip-hop sub-genre that utilizes much less intentional sound signal degradation and typically displays higher tempos, clearer mixes, and more bouncy properties instead. High frequencies are also not as avoided in chillhop as they are in Lo-fi. Oftentimes, Lo-Fi is used to help one focus while studying, writing, reading, or performing other solo-activities that require concentration. Artists in the genre include:

Lo-Fi House[]

California_Beach_80's_-_Lo-Fi_House_mix

California Beach 80's - Lo-Fi House mix

Certainly the least well-known Lo-Fi genre, Lo-Fi House has been described as listening to music played at a nightclub from the outside. Lo-Fi House tends to take many musical cues and inspiration from 80's and 90's house music in particular, but still maintains the sense of nostalgia and relaxation that its hip-hop counterpart has, despite having more of a "dancey" beat. Artists in this genre include:

Chillwave[]

How_to_make_CHILLWAVE

How to make CHILLWAVE

Chillwave (sometimes referred to as Lo-Fi Synthwave or Glo-Fi) is a music microgenre that emerged in the late 2000s. It is characterized by a faded or dreamy (or Lo-Fi) retro pop sound, escapist lyrics (frequent topics include the beach or summer), psychedelic or Lo-Fi aesthetics, mellow vocals, low-to-moderate tempos, heavy effects processing (especially reverb), and vintage synthesizers. Because of its overall aesthetic choices, Chillwave often finds itself getting confused with Vaporwave (which is made all the more confusing when Vaporwave is sometimes referred to as a subgenre of Chillwave).

Chillwave loosely emulates 1980s electropop and engages with notions of memory and nostalgia. It was one of the first music genres to develop primarily through the Internet. The term was coined in 2009 by the satirical blog Hipster Runoff to describe indie acts whose sounds resembled incidental music from 1980s VHS tapes. Its most prominent artists included Neon Indian, Washed Out, and Toro y Moi, who gained attention during 2009's "Summer of Chillwave". Washed Out's 2009 track "Feel It All Around" remains the best-known Chillwave song. Artists in this genre include:

Resources[]

External links to help get a better understanding of this aesthetic.

Playlists[]

Lo-Fi Hip Hop[]

ＨＯＵＳＥ¹_(Lo-Fi_House_Mix)

ＨＯＵＳＥ¹ (Lo-Fi House Mix)

Lo-Fi House[]

Chillwave[]

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://www.youtube.com/c/LofiGirl/about


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