The rise of lofi hip hop
How did lofi hip hop get so popular?
Lofi hip hop cyberpunk theme, similar to the backgrounds used by many YouTube lofi channels.
November 8, 2022
Lofi hip hop is a type of music that has grown over time for a variety of reasons.
Lofi hip hop started in the 2000s, but did not start getting popular until 2010 from YouTube. YouTubers like Lo-fi Girl made it more famous by streaming or playing lofi hip hop on their channels with illustrations in the background. They often had a large amount of viewers watching and chatting in their streams and lofi hip hop videos titled “Music to study to or sleep to.”
Lofi hip hop became extremely popular in January of 2020. Due to the COVID-19 lockdown, everyone was locked in their own homes and doing work from home.
Today, lofi hip hop still remains somewhat popular on YouTube, but not as well-known as it was before. According to Google Trends, lofi hip hop on YouTube is less than half as popular as it was in June 2019.
Lofi hip hop peaked in searches on Google in February 202o, however in October 2022, it is only searched 18% as often when compared to February 2020.
There are many different themes to Lofi hip hop, like Halloween, fall, nature, study, sleep, chill, and more. There are an endless amount of themes for lofi hip hop and an infinite amount of YouTubers’ videos and live streams to choose from.
Some of the popular lofi hip hop YouTube channels are Lofi Girl, Chillhop Music, and Coffee Shop Radio. All of these channels involve live streaming lofi hip hop music and having videos posted on their channels with only lofi music with hundreds of views on them.
Josh Collison • Nov 8, 2022 at 12:04 pm
I was an avid listener to these channels during the later stages of the pandemic, but have found myself falling off of listening with any regularity. As the worlds of work and school transitioned back to an in-person capacity, I had less time alone to work quietly. I suppose that the familiarity of the music that Lofi stations play, without a focus on lyrics, helped to soothe my mind, allowed respite from anxiety, and fill the vacuum that would have usually been filled with casual conversations and minor tasks during a normal work day.
Though I still enjoy the calming music and ease of listening after a stressful day, I have not been seeking out Lofi as frequently as I had a year ago.