![]() As the music caters for passive listeners, it’s vulnerable to labels looking to capitalize its bare structure. ![]() Lofi hip-hop’s simplicity only adds to the genre’s troubles, especially when money and record labels are involved. “If you make music for money, you’ve already lost. “I think that people should simply take the time to appreciate the proper sampling techniques and really learn how to turn a sample into your ‘own thing.’ But you have to ask yourself if what you have done is original enough.” Admittedly I have also done that too, which is why I stepped away from sampling years ago,” he explains. “There have been many instances where people simply take a sample and add a kick and snare to it, without chopping it up too much, and call it a day. Idealism also attributes producers’ negligent approach to the sampling as one of the genre’s downsides. “I go on Soundcloud to post sh*t and I’m like, ‘Honestly why am I doing this?’” ![]() SoundCloud’s not even tight anymore,” he said. I guess it’s the new SoundCloud vibe-type sh*t. As eevee puts it, “It gets boring at some point if everyone sounds the same.” In a separate HYPEBEAST interview with Knxwledge, the producer admitted that he even finds himself questioning the lofi material he uploads on SoundCloud. It receives criticism from music consumers about almost anything and everything, from the hackneyed looped anime GIFs to the overuse of the same samples and drum swings. However, lofi hip-hop’s oversaturation also pushes a critical outlook of the genre. We used to listen to the radio just to kill the silence, bearing through whatever the station was playing out.” tomppabeats says, “ is very passive for most people, as it always has been, but now we can kinda curate it more. ![]() YouTube, SoundCloud, Bandcamp and Spotify let users both listen to and add to a seemingly endless music discography with just a few clicks, which has significantly altered how audiences consume music. “Everyone is comparing their ‘behind-the-scenes’ to everyone else’s ‘highlight reels,’ making us feel like we aren’t working hard enough to be successful or happy,” idealism says “Having a genre of music like this that is easily accessible and can help you wind down and relax from societal stress, especially among young people, has definitely helped in the massive expansion of lofi hip-hop.”īut social media is also an important component in helping underground music go viral. It can help you de-stress and clear your mind, to forget your problems or deal with them in a better way that makes you feel more peaceful,” eevee explains. It’s perhaps no surprise then that the genre would take off in a time when prolonged use of social media has caused many to feel anxious, depressed and overwhelmed. Lofi’s simplicity and ability to help listeners focus are some of its main selling points. If you can sample, you can produce it.”Īs tomppabeats explains, the freeform nature of lofi hip-hop also provides a space for musicians to discover how they can grow with the music, “It’s a timeless sound which has such bare structure that makes people more inclined and welcome to put their print in it.” “I think anyone can get into it and start producing lo-fi. It’s very simple music - beats are usually uncomplicated, chords and melodies are simple to follow and predictable. If you can sample, you can produce it,” idealism says. Lofi hip-hop transformed into a musical phenomenon despite its producers’ refusal to claim the style, but the genre’s simplicity and general accessibility are responsible for both its popularity and its downfall. I don’t really have a ‘genre’ I identify with.” idealism adds, “In the last two years I have distanced myself a lot from the typical lofi hip-hop stuff, and ventured more into making music that is influenced from different genres such as ambient and downtempo. I’d like to think it’s for someone else to say if it’s this thing or that, or whatever they can come up with,” tomppabeats says. “I don’t really hold myself up to any label anymore. But others like tomppabeats and idealism eschew the idea of genres altogether, either because they prefer to leave it up to their listeners to decide on a label or because they’ve just grown out of the style. But the despite the genre’s obvious popularity, producers who fulfill that demand are choosing to distance themselves from the label of “lofi hip-hop,” as they move away from the genre’s distinct sound.įor producers like eevee, it’s simply a matter of refusing to any kind of restrictive label. The over-the-top backlash YouTube received plus the countless other active livestreams and Spotify playlists paint a vivid picture of the supply and the demand for the lofi genre.
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