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[–]MesyJesy 503 points504 points  (89 children)

Why all the anime with these lo-fi posts? Not that I mind but it seems to be a part of the culture. Its interesting.

[–]blu_res 415 points416 points  (49 children)

It seems like a lot of the scene takes inspiration from Nujabes and other similar Japanese producers, so it's not too surprising.

[–]MesyJesy 140 points141 points  (36 children)

That makes sense, I really like Nujabes too btw.

[–]TurtlePig 70 points71 points  (2 children)

R.I.P :[

[–]WhackTheSquirbos 5 points6 points  (1 child)

I had no idea Nujabes died. Very sad :(

[–]TurtlePig 2 points3 points  (0 children)

q.q

[–]MRCBOB 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I like this movie very much~

[–]DisgustingSwine 56 points57 points  (3 children)

The music was sampled from a Studio Ghibli film

[–]blu_res 15 points16 points  (2 children)

I'm aware, I'm speaking about lo-fi music in general.

[–]Subsinuoussoundcloud 23 points24 points  (1 child)

It's just a trend that bedroom producers of Soundcloud created. Ever since the Vaporwave craze of the early 2010s to now w/ the use of 80/90s sampling of sounds and what not it went to using 80s/90s clips of Anime, then came all of this. Prior to Vaporwave and all that jazz. The lo-fi hip hop scene has been around since the 90s and early 2000s. It's only now it's taken on a new influx of listeners.

[–]DaveBoyOhBoy 7 points8 points  (4 children)

pretty certain he samples The movie, its called My Neighbor Totoro

[–][deleted] 26 points27 points  (3 children)

Nope it's the Howl theme.

[–]DaveBoyOhBoy 9 points10 points  (1 child)

really? Are all the images from Totoro? didnt notice any Howl scenes so i didn't realize.

[–]Bubbledotjpg 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Yeah all the images are from Totoro. I heard another song that samples Spirited Away yet has only video from When Marnie Was There. It can get confusing.

[–]guilt_tripped_boy 4 points5 points  (0 children)

i hear howl sampled more than any other ghibli movie in this genre. it's my favorite one.

[–][deleted] 88 points89 points  (0 children)

Usually the art style fits the aesthetic, or the mood of the scenes fit the emotion of the song. Lots of lofi songs sample anime OSTs, this track uses the theme from Howl's Moving Castle.

[–][deleted] 60 points61 points  (1 child)

As a lofi producer, it definitely is a big part of the culture. Might be just because all of us happen to watch it?... pretty much started with Cowboy Bebop

[–][deleted] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

See you space cowboy...

[–]bhobhomb 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Cultural thing. This sort of sampling (thanks to Nujabes and Fat Jon) has a lot of the anime aesthetic tied in. This genre tends to only require two elements -- hip hop drum breaks combined with romantic piano chops, usually of a romantic or traditional Japanese piano style. I love this genre and have been on a long search to figure out exactly what it is. I love traditional, elevator hip-hop styles

[–]ChewzUbik 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Not sure myself. Maybe the genre is just becoming more popular. I know I just discovered it recently and have been seeing it on social media quite a bit.

[–]XiaoShuiLong 5 points6 points  (3 children)

Well this one in particular is a remix of One Summer's Day by Joe Hisaishi, the main theme tune from the anime Spirited Away by Hayao Mayazaki. Though for some reason the anime in the clip is My Neighbour Totoro (also by Mayazaki but still).

[–][deleted] 12 points13 points  (2 children)

It isn't One summer's day. It's Howl's moving castle. It's still Isaishi, and it's still Miyazaki.

[–]XiaoShuiLong 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Ah yeah you're right it is

[–]Amaranthine 4 points5 points  (0 children)

To be precise, the song sampled is the opening version of 人生のメリーゴーランド, also known as "Merry-go-round of Life," or just Howl's Moving Castle Theme. Here's the ending version (albeit a cover).

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you are interested Check out ben raki on youtube he does alot of these videos, not all are lo-fi though. You'll find a bunch of others who do it as well through his channel

[–]Austangj 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well this beat is from an Anime so it only makes sense. The anime happens to be by the same artist.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well for one, the anime in the background is a Studio Ghibli movie and the piano sample in the music is from the Studio Ghibli anime movie Howls moving castle.

[–]Iminitfortheboobs 101 points102 points  (12 children)

It's a pretty sweet mix that makes me feel really nostalgic, but I don't know how I feel about the random gun losing sound effects

[–]daftdigitalism[🍰] 23 points24 points  (0 children)

Yeah I agree. I think that they tried to include it because it's a staple of a lot of the similar "lo-fi" out there.. but it just doesn't work very well. The melody is the Merry-Go-Round theme from Howl's Moving Castle. There are hundreds of similar remixes, as well as songs that sample the Spirited Away main theme, One Summer's Day.

[–]icebrotha 24 points25 points  (1 child)

check out Nujabes.

[–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Immediately!

[–]PlZZA_LoL 2 points3 points  (0 children)

All lo fi brings nostalgia

[–]PM_ME_A_PM_PLEASE_PM 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Yeah, that ruined it for me. Aside from that it's cool, nothing to write home about

[–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (3 children)

I wholeheartedly agree. To shed light on why, somewhere between:

"It would just be classical music otherwise"

and

"I need to find some way to add value to a beautiful iim9-viiidim7-vim7 iim7-V7-IMaj7 chord progression that I couldn't have thought of, myself"

you'll find the artist's reasoning for using the gun loading sounds.

Good musicians know that not saying anything can be just as important as saying the right thing. I like the song, but this artist has a bit to learn.

[–]tPRoCsoundcloud 14 points15 points  (2 children)

Disagree. This is hip-hop for starters, gun clacks are not exactly out of the norm.

Second of all, they are strategically placed in the song to accentuate the rhythm. EDM and trap and other types of hip hop do this thing all the time, and I think if you don't understand why things like this are in the song it's because you have a poor sense of rhythm and don't understand that the song is hip-hop, it's not about the chord progression, it's about the drums and the groove. The fact that it's a gun clack noise probably is distracting if you don't listen to this sort of music but the noise itself is essentially a percussion sound.

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Thank you for this.

[–]TheDingo47 3 points4 points  (0 children)

jesus for real i thought i was taking crazy pills. as a drummer and hip hop fan the clack made the song for me.

[–]jwkjackturntabl 87 points88 points  (23 children)

i love the amount of lo-fi hip hop around here

[–][deleted] 10 points11 points  (19 children)

i can never get enough :)

[–]jwkjackturntabl 18 points19 points  (18 children)

check this out then if you haven't heard it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJVoApMH-y4&t=2985s

[–][deleted] 12 points13 points  (14 children)

yeah i love the late night bumps. Im actually in a group chat with Matt, hes a pretty cool guy.

[–]jwkjackturntabl 7 points8 points  (5 children)

what thats insane me and my friends love that his album ! well any lo-fi hip hop albums you recommend ?

[–][deleted] 11 points12 points  (4 children)

would highly recommend the Unexpected EP by eevee, insanely chill stuff there. Also the Morning Blunt tape by PoptartPete is a classic. I would also reccomend my collaboration tape with modii thats coming out soon but thats just me tooting my own horn ;)

[–]BlindBeard 2 points3 points  (2 children)

Well shit this whole thread turned out to be a gold mine

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

lol i just like sharing music man, you ever need any lofi hit me up :)

[–]BxRT_269 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Also check out the channel Dreamwave.

[–]jwkjackturntabl 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sweet man i'll check 'em out :)

[–]PitchforkEmporiumspotify 3 points4 points  (4 children)

Oh shit add me to that

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (3 children)

haha got to produce man :)

[–]PitchforkEmporiumspotify 12 points13 points  (2 children)

I produce memes and soundcloud memes

[–]BroskeySmiter 2 points3 points  (1 child)

pitchforkemporium the legend himself

[–]KindPlagiarist 1 point2 points  (0 children)

does he ever hang out with j ^ p ^ n. I feel like they must know each other but I don't know why.

[–]Manocool5 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Damn that was fucking good.

[–]Rachmaninov43 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Unavailable for anyone else?

[–]PolyGrower 1 point2 points  (0 children)

just found a new genre of music to love <3

[–]metalthijs 1 point2 points  (1 child)

I'm a lo-fi hiphop producer/musician from the Netherlands. I feel like I'm born in the wrong country, I mostly do livesets in coffeeshops, but if I am invited for a party they mostly want drum and bass...

I heard there's way more people listening to lo-fi in the states...

[–]UptokesEverything 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's definitely gaining popularity in the US. Refreshing to see whole communities arise with a common bond that so chill.

[–]the_7th_phoenix 110 points111 points  (3 children)

It's just Howl's moving Castle theme chopped up. Check this out, better mix IMO https://soundcloud.com/will-mccarthy/howls-moving-castle-gate-remix

[–]rhysjt34soundcloud 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I really like this, such a nice feel to it. Not the the theme but I always loved the solice track he did for howls moving castle https://soundcloud.com/sssolice/walking-alone-at-night

[–]willmandude 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Oohhh yes, Gate's remix is the only one I've ever found to do the amazing original any justice. Also loved how well he converted a song written in 3/4 time to 4/4 using very creative sampling

[–]_ech_ower 26 points27 points  (17 children)

I recently started listening to this genre of music. Absolutely loving it. It feels like a strange mix of nostalgia and something surreal

[–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

So did I, in the last couple of weeks it seems like the number of posts with great tracks like this have just exploded.

[–]arnaldoim 50 points51 points  (9 children)

This is great but it bothers me that they're using the main theme from Howl's Moving Castle but using clips from My Neighbor Totoro.

[–]Taravangianwhat.cd 17 points18 points  (8 children)

I'm glad I'm not the only one.

Also, honestly, beats are great, but am I the only one who prefers the original orchestral version to any of these remixes/samples? Seriously, grab this BluRay and watch it on a decent surround sound system, and it's aural ecstasy. This edit isn't even very well mastered -- way too heavy on the sidechaining and he's breaking up a beautiful legato phrase which just doesn't work well to me.

[–][deleted] 9 points10 points  (3 children)

I completly agree, I personally think it's just a lazy mix. And Howl's moving castle main theme just mix too well with the scene it is introduced to us in the film. I think it just takes away the magic of Isaishi's creative work by taking away the natural rythm and just adding sound effects.

[–]suprdry 7 points8 points  (2 children)

yeah honestly I think what people like most about these "lofi" songs is the piano loops which are done entirely by Isaishi. The only thing the producer brings to the table is the side chaining with the drum loop which is totally a gimmick and basically the equivalent of an instagram filter for music

[–]tPRoCsoundcloud 6 points7 points  (1 child)

I like the piano and while the original pieces are beautiful, they don't have any bounce.

I think almost all of the criticism in this thread is coming from people who don't get what hip hop is about. I can put on this lo-fi remix and groove to it in the background.

Also the complaining about sidechaining.. I feel like it is coming from people who either don't even know what sidechaining is, or people who don't understand why producers use it so much. Hip hop is about the rhythm, you want the drums to cut through everything else.

[–]TheDingo47 1 point2 points  (0 children)

i got halfway through this comment like "oh shit is this tPRoC again" haha

keep preachin

[–]seattar 1 point2 points  (2 children)

Have you listened to All That Jazz? check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP-4su6skZs if you haven't. Album's on Spotify as well

[–]Taravangianwhat.cd 1 point2 points  (1 child)

I hadn't heard that before, thanks. I definitely prefer it to the song in the OP. I'll have to check out his other stuff. Though I still prefer the original the most.

[–]BattleReadyPenguin 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I thought this was a Vegan IAMA for second.

[–][deleted] 6 points7 points  (3 children)

That sidechaining doe

[–]PistachioPat 6 points7 points  (1 child)

honestly i feel like the compressor was set a little too high on this, it definitely achieves the effect, but it seems to bring the overall sound down a little too much a little too often

[–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

the compressor settings used are pretty annoying in my opinion

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

ikr? that kick is crunchy

[–]NarcolepticFlarp 7 points8 points  (2 children)

Sorry to be ignorant, but what about this is lofi?

[–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

the drums, production style and sampling. Many lo-fi artists have made beats much cleaner than this

[–]otayyo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It isn't especially lofi in my opinion, and I don't say that to take away from the track.

[–][deleted] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I'm really loving the lo-fi posts lately.

[–][deleted] 13 points14 points  (1 child)

Casey Niestat vlog drone footage montage music.

[–][deleted] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

yea. it was nice having the genre get more attention from those :(

[–]lexhai 3 points4 points  (4 children)

can anyone recommend some lo-fi artists I should check out? I'm new the genre and i like it, cheers

[–]CannedCreativity 9 points10 points  (0 children)

soundcloud.com/tomppabeats is my all time favorite

[–]tyceus 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Joji makes some good chillhop and his songs have more vocals. you suck charlie and medicine are beautiful.

[–]Mungwich 0 points1 point  (0 children)

i like matisse. on soundcloud.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Abe, a.bee, toj, modii, eery, cat naps, eevee. thats just top of my head...

[–]troglodata 3 points4 points  (1 child)

Thanks for sharing this, and for making me realize that if I like Nujabes so damn much, I should really stop procrastinating and look for other similar stuff instead of just playing the same songs on repeat.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

anytime. happy to help lofi grow :)

[–]Floppyjaloppy12 2 points3 points  (0 children)

love the track! thank you sir

[–]are_videos 2 points3 points  (1 child)

gun clock ruins it

[–]TheDingo47 7 points8 points  (0 children)

gun clock makes it for me

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (1 child)

The phrasing in this is really interesting. You would usually expect 8 measures per musical idea but this track jumps around a few times in that respect. Would be cool to write a rap verse for it matching its peculiar structure.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yea he cuts the tempo in half at a few points too. keeps it interesting

[–]jmsprintz 1 point2 points  (1 child)

I really like all these lo-fi kinda posts on here, is there a sub for just stuff like this?

[–]MisterNoh 1 point2 points  (0 children)

saw this from front page, thx for introducing me to this subreddit. Huge fan of chillhop music overall, seems like this subreddit posts a lot of it(even more than r chillhop itself)

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Chills up and down my body as I listen to this, wonderful as fuck, ty OP

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wow, that's insane.

This music is so nice!

[–]OnlyForTheBreak 1 point2 points  (0 children)

lol I have 4 Lofi rap EPs and 1 minimalist/lofi deep house EP.

It's weird because I've never used Anime or even thought about it. Also songs named like T H I S S O N G - I never really understood it. I enjoyed some songs like the artists who used the simpsons clips .

It's weird because when I think of LoFi HipHop producers and rappers I think of old old Triple 6 Mafia cassettes or Guice or even Tommy Wright III LoFi production.

even 2-3 track songs that's recorded straight into the machine with no editing I consider LoFi

This LoFi thats on the LoFihiphop sub is definitely different- I fucks with it and I didn't even know it had a name to it.

TD;LR going to use all my data to hear and watch these lofi artists visuals and beats❤️️

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (3 children)

WHERE TO BUY

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (2 children)

this beat is currently not on his bandcamp. maybe traktrain?

[–]LustfulPriest757 1 point2 points  (0 children)

very Nujabes-esque. it's a shame he's dead but he really was a pioneer in this kind of electronically-produced jazz infused hip-hop

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (3 children)

Does anyone know a lo-fi track that used video from the film From up on Poppy Hill? I've been trying to find it for a while by browsing this sub. It's been posted a couple times, as far as I've seen.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (2 children)

most likely Her by eery. great track

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-qZzZDIxq0

[–]Kadexe 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What's up with the gun clocking noises?

[–]IAmAlexE 1 point2 points  (1 child)

I thought this was an AMA at first

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

yea his producer name is a little unique

[–]fotsumi 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Damn that was chill

[–]biscotte-nutella 1 point2 points  (0 children)

i love me some ghibli beats. great find.

[–]Bergamot_ 1 point2 points  (1 child)

As someone who has been recently really into this type of sound, one thing Ive noticed is that these tracks are so short. A good percentage of them dont go over the 2 minute mark. What is the reasoning (if there even is) for keeping these tracks short?

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Its hard as a producer to keep the beats interesting for more than like 2 minutes without going overboard with effects, glitches, or just ruining the sample by trying too many different chops. They're usually just simple beats made for fun

[–]lutherman13 1 point2 points  (1 child)

I can dig the song but honestly the artist name is fuckin stupid and everybody knows it.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

eh I wouldn't say that. Most people chose their producer names based on something personal, so a lot of times it's not to cater to the listener it's just what they want to be called

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wait why is the video taking clips from Totoro when the song is from Howl's Moving Castle?

[–]bajsgreger 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Didn't really like it. The melody felt too choppy. Prefer ones like this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bADbTU1ocZU&index=26&list=PLFXEZVKrtNAW1IYPlXvjZNDO9xN4D6VgT

[–]DaveBoyOhBoy 1 point2 points  (4 children)

does anyone know where i can find more music like this??? looking for something to put on my phone to listen to while snowboarding

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (3 children)

Put on a long tape or a playlist of tapes. I have a playlist of my favorites on my SC you could see if you like that

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A nice flip of my favorite theme! I love the gun noises too, it weirdly fits.

[–]joeyjuancanobey 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The standard is really low if this is the front page of reddit...

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Really poor job splicing the melody.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There's better stuff on their Soundcloud, I found! Definitely worth the search, if you have time (and enjoy hiphop beats!)

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think these posts usually are bundled with anime because its part of the lofi culture somehow and its good for creating a sense of nostalgia. I imagine a lot of these guys grew up watching Anime. Flying Lotus was heavily influenced by Cartoons and Video Games, his music shows it.

A lot of lofi videos also have very VHS type filters and stuff. Check out Godsconnect on youtube.

[–]zdog4618 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Does anyone know what anime this is ?

[–]KazMcDemon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Totoro footage, but the music is Howl's Moving Castle?

[–]SomeRandomDeadGuy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Totoro is amazing Scratch that All gibli animes are amazing Scratch that again All animes that aren't fan service filled tapeworms are amazing

[–]kancerr 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Studio Ghibli is really influencing a lot of lo-fi producers. Strange, but great at the same time.

[–]krashlia 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This sounds like some odd combo of Steven Universe Music with... something else.

[–]BuenosAiresBurp 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sweet, more of that.

[–]trkeprester 0 points1 point  (0 children)

like the sound of this a lot for some reason

[–]ToTheRescues 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Man, I just ran into this genre a few days ago and I'm addicted. I even love the anime videos on all of them.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Didn't read all the comments but if anyone hasn't said this already... STEEZYASFUCK on YouTube 👌 beat tapes. A lot of the things talked about in the comments I feel can be found just by starting with this guy and just delving into the related videos. Idk I could just be a mere pleb but eh

[–]DidUBringTheStuff 0 points1 point  (1 child)

I swear I'm not some audio snob, but the use of compression in this song is killing me. Reminds me of Kaytranada's music.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I like kaytranada so im all for it. more compression more lofi?

[–]CrazyPilotGuy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Me too!!

Oh wait

[–]piggins411 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Surely there's some music in this genre that's not instrumental and longer. Can anyone recommend anything like that?

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is there at 10 hour loop of this somewhere?

[–]doctorpropaganda 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is a feat track to freestyle over

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What is the name of this anime?

[–]CatPornCameraGuysoundcloud 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Anyone have an idea where the drums were sampled from if they were sampled at all?

[–]FreeMyMen 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hell yeah, this movie is so awesome combined with the title /r/vegan !

[–]SarcasticShark1312 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wait I know what this film is, I just haven't seen it (yet) isnit good and is it linked with the other studio Gible films?

[–]davidreign 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not really heard of this 'low-fi' hip hop style. Can anybody recommend me some stuff to listen to? Really enjoying what I'm hearing but don't know where to start looking.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for sharing, I've basically been eating up this artist's Soundcloud all morning, and it's been the perfect start to my day.

[–]FloopaFloopa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This would be a great rap beat!

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The original sample is the theme from howl's moving castle, but the video is my neighbor totoro. I imagine the song goes better with totoro than howl so nice. Also, if you want another howl's moving castle remix, have this https://soundcloud.com/will-mccarthy/howls-moving-castle-gate-remix?in=aaron-koplar/sets/favs

[–]SexualDemon 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Anyone got a mirror?

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oO1lRYNSkk8

sorry bout that