Roots of Lofi Hip Hop: Amateur Music Making, Recording Technology, and Globalization

Lofi hip hop is a style of music made by amateur beatmakers that mixes Japanese and African American aesthetics. It relies on anime visuals, scratchy jazz samples, and repetitive drum loops. It serves primarily as background music. This course is about the sounds and popularity of lofi hip hop in the twenty-first century. But to understand this genre, students will also focus on the genre's roots. We learn about French composers' early attempts to create background music at the turn of the twentieth century. We learn about American teenagers who took over their suburban garages to create an energetic style of rock and roll during the 1960s. We learn about how anthropologists during the 1930s thought that low fidelity recordings of blues and country musicians was evidence of their musical authenticity. And we will learn about how jazz harmonies and samples influenced the music of groups like A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul. Lofi gives us a jumping off point for exploring a wide range of genres and histories. The final assignment will be a collaborative effort. As a class, students will make and publish a podcast about lofi hip hop and its antecedents. This podcast will feature original lofi hip hop made by the class. The original music will also serve as background music to a study-session event organized by the class towards the end of the semester.
Course Attributes: AS HUM; FA HUM; AR HUM; EN H

Roots of Lofi Hip Hop: Amateur Music Making, Recording Technology, and Globalization

AMERICAN CULTURE STUDIES 3035

Section 01