Over the past year, most of the music I’ve listened to has come from two labels: Lo-Fi Girl and Chillhop. I find this music so calming, but my wife isn’t a fan. This got me wondering why, and I think our childhoods may have something to do with it.
I Grew Up on Video Games
I received my first game console, a Sega Genesis, when I was five years old. I would go on to receive a Nintendo Entertainment System, a Nintendo 64, a PlayStation 2, an Xbox, and a Gamecube over the course of my adolescent and teenage years. My best friend as a kid had an original PlayStation and, later, a Dreamcast. I went from the Game Boy to the Game Boy Advance, and I may have owned a Game Boy Color in between. In short, video games were a major part of my childhood, to the point where I’m tempted to buy an Analogue3D to relive some of those fond memories on modern hardware.
I spent hours playing these games in front of a CRT TV. This was my refuge, and during most of those hours, there was repetitive, somewhat low-key, lyric-less music playing in the background of each game. I not only developed an appreciation for this kind of music, but after years of this being the soundtrack to my relaxation, it continues to give me warm vibes.
It takes only a few notes from certain songs to put me back in a certain state or transfer me to a particular place in time. I think any gamer can relate. Anyone who likes music in general can, really—this just happens to be the genre I unintentionally absorbed the most of.
Video Game Music Holds Up on Its Own
Video game soundtracks weren’t a thing available to purchase back then, at least not in my neck of the woods. Today, they are. Video game music artists even go on tour, performing in concert halls. When you buy a game on Steam, there’s a decent chance a bundle is available that also offers a downloadable soundtrack.
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I love the Life is Strange soundtrack, which is packed with performers singing indie songs that are right up my alley. Yet that’s not a soundtrack I’ve played often. The indie 2D platformer GRIS, however, has a soundtrack I’ve played far more often than the game itself. Video game music is worth listening to even if you’re not much of a gamer. The vibes are good.
Popular Lo-Fi Labels Sound Like Video Games
The past decade has seen the rise of at least two popular lo-fi hip-hop labels that stream downtempo, typically instrumental music intended to put listeners in a relaxed mood. Lo-Fi Girl is the most well-known, which began as a YouTube channel streaming music under the name ChilledCow from 2017 until 2021. I actually got my introduction through Chillhop, a label I discovered on Bandcamp and whose complete collection of work I quickly proceeded to purcase. There’s a Lo-Fi Girl Bandcamp page as well, and I’ve hit it pretty hard.
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Streaming or physical media? I’ll take option three.
Both labels have a sound that isn’t all that different from video game music. They don’t sound like pop music. Their songs don’t hook you with a chorus. Most albums can be played on repeat and may even loop several times before you catch on. The sounds can whisk your imagination off to other worlds or other corners of our own.
Art Perfect for Video Game and Anime Fans
Both labels employ animated art on their album covers. Lo-Fi Girl feels most anime-inspired, with its mascot being a girl listening to music while studying. She would not look out of place in a Miyazaki film.
Lo-Fi Girl album covers often have characters walking through woods or standing along the edge of a cliff, looking out upon a fantasy landscape. Don’t be surprised if you see ethereal beings in a mystical sky. A recent stream was even explicitly all about Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
Chilllhop’s mascot is an anthropomorphic raccoon who occupies all kinds of cozy settings. You can see the raccoon going back to visit their hometown or sitting at a kitchen table drinking a mug of tea. The character looks like the sort of cartoon mascot you dust off an old Nintendo console to play as.
What you won’t find on any of the album covers are people dancing in a club or pouring beer into red cups. This feels like music by and for us nerds.
In addition to YouTube and Bandcamp, you can find both labels on all the popular streaming platforms. You don’t have to have grown up a gamer to appreciate lo-fi chillhop music, but you might be more inclined to appreciate this music if you did. I did, and I’ve now written thousands of words and driven hundreds of miles with Lo-Fi Girl and Chillhop playing in the background, drifting me off to other words, and putting me at ease.
