Is Jazz Dead!?
Probably the genre that's getting a lot of notice from this pandemic is the underrated Genre called Lo-fi. If you don't know what Lo-fi is, it's basically a type of genre of music that's used mostly for studying or relaxing. It's mostly non Lyrical and its origin dates back to New York UnderGround instrumentals, in the 1960s and 1070s with jazz samples, and Electronic music. The Name Lo-fi comes from the term “Low Fidelity” Which in this case it is referenced to the sounds of Vinyl Crackle and sample distortion which is used in a lot of way mainly its used to provoking the hypothalamus to provoke the nostalgia and the distance yet more simple sample of the melody invokes the emotion of chill and youthful days. Lofi Is primarily composed of beats (similar to that of a hip hop beat but with less bass) and looped samples. Most songs are relaxing and invoke positive emotions oftentimes with nostalgia. But why is Lo-fi so popular? Well Lo-fi music streams are drawing millions of listeners on youtube. If you want you can tune in to a lo-fi live stream and let the subtle audio of soothing rhythms set you.
Low-Fidelity usually uses imperfections that would typically be considered at fault or errors in the recording process. On Youtube channels like Chillhop or etc. Those mistakes aren't necessarily mistakes though they are intended to be there for the sole purpose of listening experience. Listeners from this genre like myself find these soft errors appealing because it's part of what makes up unique. Those connecting to the gnre know that there's different sub genres of lo-fi like Lofi hip-hop. Lo-fi attaches itself to multiple genres including pop.soul and classic songs. They also blend music together creating a unique peice. People stream these types of music in a sense to set a tone for work or study. Its a background music you can enjoy.
That sense of control in listening to Lo-fi explains why some music therapists tap to this sort of genre. It's highly therapeutic due to gaining some control of their soundscape. Tuning in with the familiarity of your soundscape makes a way for familiarity and soothing. People say that jazz music has died. In my opinion it hasn't died it just evolved into a completely different genre of its own. Lo-fi heavily uses jazz in its format and old school sounds track to help display a tone. The soundtrack takes homage to black culture!
As COVID-19 introduces more people to the kind of what hip-hop is and what they've never heard before. In quarantine a lot of musicians and artists nonetheless are innovating their approach in terms of music. Like Dua Lipa she used a lot of her sample tracks from old jazz music since her album theme was Future Nostalgia. Miley Cyrus has a song called Mid night sky inspired from the retro 90s. In your eyes f.t Doja Cat by the weekend uses jazz giving renaissance to the iconic jazz genre.
It's not rocket Science ever since all of us in quarantine were more glued to the internet more than ever. Lo-Fi has definitely benefited from the pandemic since a lot of people are streaming this genre to relax during these stressful times and reminiscent the past of what our lives used to look like before the pandemic happened. In my opinion Lo-fi has expanded in many ways as an underrated genre. Though it's still an underrated genre of music, I think it's meant to be like that. It's a fun and soothing genre for everyone to listen to and relax through in the corners of their bed or their living room. If you haven't listened to Lo-Fi you should definitely give it a try! You wont regret it.
