Why lo-fi is the perfect background music

Switched on Pop

Vox Media Podcast Network

Music Interviews, Music History, Music, Music Commentary

4.6 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 19 May 2020

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Lo-Fi hip-hop has emerged as a hugely popular genre and internet subculture. Its millions of loyal fans rely on curated lo-fi playlists and live-streams to write to, study to and even fall asleep to. Heck, we even wrote a good chunk of our book to Spotify’s lo-fi beats playlists. There’s just something about those ambient, spacey, plodding beats that place us in a state of determined zen. But what of its musical roots? Who are its stars? And why, despite its mass following on YouTube, Spotify and elsewhere, is it nearly impossible to spot on the Billboard? We trace lo-fi from its godfathers to its moments in the sun, to the complex creative ecosystem playing out on streaming platforms today. MORE You can find music from this episode on this week’s Spotify playlist Sign up for Cherie Hu’s newsletter Water & Music that sent us down the lo-fi hip hop rabbit hole Check out Seneca B on Spotify: Check out weird inside on Spotify Check out eevee on Spotify SONGS DISCUSSED Brenky - Bye Brenky - People J Dilla ft. Common, D’Angelo - So Far To Go Isley Brothers - Don’t Say Goodnight (It’s Time For Love), Pts. 1&2 Charlatan - Wasted Jazz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	When you drive a Chevy electric vehicle, you're getting more than a way to get from point A to point B.
0:06.0	You're saying goodbye to gas stations and hello to open roads.
0:09.0	With the growing network of public charging stations, you'll be able to charge your EV while you shop, work, or do whatever you want to be doing with your time.
0:17.0	Chevy is making EVs for everyone, everywhere.
0:20.0	Go to chevrelay.com slash electric to learn more.
0:30.0	Welcome to Switched on Pop. I'm songwriter Charlie Harding.
0:43.0	And I'm musicologist Nate Sloan.
0:46.0	Nate loyal listeners will recall that you are a professor of musicology.
0:51.0	Correct.
0:52.0	What are your students up to these days?
0:54.0	My students I choose to believe are all diligently preparing for their final examinations.
1:02.0	Very diligent students.
1:04.0	Yes, everyone.
1:05.0	It's funny when people ask me about what it was like to write our book.
1:08.0	I find myself immediately flashing back to those moments.
1:11.0	I'm sure some of your students are experiencing when the writing in front of you just seems to drag on for eternity.
1:18.0	Oh my god, the tear of the empty page.
1:21.0	It's the worst.
1:22.0	Lucky for us, the internet introduced me to the low five beats playlist on Spotify, which I found exceptionally useful to write to.
1:31.0	I'm not the only one according to a study by chart metric low five and other ambient music has experienced a spike in listenership as more people work from home during social distancing.
1:43.0	Interesting. Low five.
1:45.0	That's what we're going to investigate today.
	...

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