By Ryan Even if you are not an avid listener of Lo-Fi Hip-Hop, you are likely to have come across an instance of it, or have at least heard of the name. Lo-Fi Hip-Hop surged in popularity around the late 2010s and has transcended its status as a mere genre and today constitutes a rich subculture. Despite its ubiquity, many listeners are likely unaware of the depth of Lo-Fi Hip-Hop culture beyond an intuitive understanding of its music being something relaxing that one can have in the background while studying, working or attending to mundane tasks. There are many things to go into regarding this prominent subculture, but in this article I would like to focus on an artist that is widely regarded as one of its founding fathers – Nujabes. Overview of Lo-Fi Hip-Hop Most people are probably familiar with Lo-Fi Hip-Hop through various ‘lofi hip hop radio – beats to relax/study to’ 24-hour livestreams on YouTube. These streams are usually accompanied by an animated gif of a girl listening to music on her headphones while studying by a window on a tranquil night – a character who the internet has endearingly termed ‘lofi girl’. Such streams were popularised by French music label Chilled Cow, who have rebranded themselves Lofi Girl owing to the popularity of their brainchild. There are dozens of these streams ongoing at any given moment, with viewership ranging from hundreds to tens of thousands. They are also often accompanied by an anime aesthetic, with thumbnails and music videos featuring anime stills, clips, or pictures in a similar artstyle. There is no universally agreed-upon definition of what Lo-Fi Hip-Hop is, but common descriptors would be ‘chill’, ‘ambient, or ‘relaxing’. In my opinion, the essence of the genre is its nostalgic texture that invites introspection and wistfulness, which is typically evoked through two things. First, a low fidelity production quality, which is what the term ‘Lo-Fi’ is short for. Effects such as vinyl crackles, muffled filters, distortion are used to achieve a warm, analog sound. Second, this sound quality is combined with low-energy musical features such as sparse melodies, slow tempo, and swaying rhythms to overall achieve a soothing, almost hypnotic atmosphere that thrusts one back into an idyllic past. Nujabes – Origins and Style While Lo-Fi Hip-Hop may only have exploded into popularity in recent years, its foundations began to be laid decades ago with Nujabes being one of its pioneers. The Tokyo-born artist began his music production career around the turn of the millennium, towards the end what is commonly known as the ‘Golden Age’ of Hip-Hop which generally had a gritty, hard-hitting style. However, Nujabes went against the grain and carved out his own niche, opting instead of a more laid-back, mellow sound. In his record store in Shibuya, Nujabes would spend hours digging through crates to find samples of various genres and eras, with Jazz, R&B, Soul, and Bossa Nova being among his favourites. He would sometimes combine analog sampling techniques with live instrumentation – himself being an accomplished pianist. This was already a common practice in Hip Hop of course, but Nujabes was somehow able to do so in a manner to create peaceful, melancholic tracks as opposed to the grimier beats that were popular in Hip-Hop at the time. This is a sound that Lo-Fi artists often attempt to emulate, though none can do it quite like Nujabes can. The artist’s brilliance was already evident from the beginning, but it would take a few more years for it to be recognised on the global stage. Samurai Champloo (2004) The release of Samurai Champloo was pivotal for Nujabes’ career and by extension Lo-Fi Hip-Hop as a whole. The 26-episode anime series was envisioned by director Shinichiro Watanabe to be a fusion of the samurai elements of Edo-era Japan and contemporary Hip-Hop. Watanabe saw Nujabes as the perfect artist to sonically capture this essence with his ability to seamlessly blend seemingly disparate genres and eras of music into a harmonious, atmospheric whole. The anime’s soundtrack is one of Nujabes’ best known works, and was what catapulted him into the global spotlight, though the artist was previously already a respected figure in underground Japanese Hip-Hop circles. Samurai Champloo and its soundtrack is a major contributing factor for the entanglement of Lo-Fi Hip-Hop and anime today. Although there has long been cross-cultural pollination between East Asian popular culture and Hip-Hop ever since the latter’s origins in the 1970s, Samurai Champloo and its soundtrack is arguably one of its most prominent instances. Legacy Nujabes’ reign was revolutionary, but tragically cut short. The fabled artist passed away on February 26, 2010 following a traffic accident. During his lifetime, Nujabes founded his own independent label – Hydeout Productions – and released two studio albums under it: Metophorical Music (2003) and Modal Soul (2005). He also collaborated with Japanese/American emcee Shing02 to create the Luv(sic) hexalogy, of which the first three parts were released before his untimely death. Its latter half was released posthumously, along with the album Spiritual State (2011).
Nujabes was a reserved character who did all his talking through his music. Despite his status in the Hip-Hop world, he actively avoided the spotlight – one can barely find any interviews with him online. However, there are numerous instances of artists speaking fondly about him in their interviews or even shouting him out in their own songs such as Logic’s Thank You (2018) with the verse ‘Take a moment and celebrate how we all alive // Had to write this letter here over a Nujabes vibe’. The aforementioned Shing02 also formed a close friendship with Nujabes over their years working together, and he has paid tribute to his dear friend on several occasions with his ‘Nujabes Tribute Tours’ in 2018 and 2019. Nujabes has only grown in popularity since his passing, with his beats being sampled and remixed by various artists. Modal Soul Classics II (2018) was an album compiling several instances of this. Closing Words Nujabes’ beats may not strictly align with the dominant sound of Lo-Fi Hip-Hop today, but his influence on the subgenre and the wider culture of Hip-Hop as a whole cannot be understated. Reading this article would not do him and his music justice. I highly encourage readers to listen to his works – and listen actively at that. Do not just treat it as background music, but allow yourself to be enveloped in it, discern all their intricacies, and be swept along on an introspective journey. To sign off, here are some of my favourite tracks: Luv(sic) Part 2 feat.Shing02 Luv(sic) Part 3 feat.Shing02 Lady Brown (feat. Cise Starr from CYNE) Arurian Dance (Samurai Champloo OST). Track 3 a
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The Taida Student Journal has been active since 1995 with an ever-changing roster of student journalists at NTU. Click the above link to read about the authors Archives
May 2024
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