If nobody’s got you, the lofi girl’s got you.

Ian Smyth
Illustration by Hayden Carkner

Picture this. It’s near the end of the term. You’re stressed out of your mind, living off of energy drinks and timmies Farmer’s Wraps. On top of that, it’s -30 C outside. So you head to the library with your laptop, some textbooks (if you even bought them), and some headphones. Time to study. And you know just the soundtrack for the job.

Lo-fi is a subgenre of hip-hop that has become popular among Gen Z. It consists of 90s boom-bap drum patterns (think Wu-Tang Clan), jazzy samples, and an analog haze over it all that slows down the pace and turns it into the perfect background music. People often proclaim they can’t work without something in the background. Add in the often loud and rowdy environment of a campus, and a calming yet up-tempo genre of music looks real appealing.

There are debates on where lo-fi exactly started, but most people can agree on who its pioneers are: J Dilla and Nujabes. 

J Dilla was a Detroit-based producer who made a name for himself in the 90s and 2000s. His emphasis on loud but somehow soft drums paved the way for the percussion standard in today’s lo-fi. Sadly, J Dilla passed away in 2006. For a quintessential Dilla song, listen to Don’t Cry off of his iconic album Donuts. It’s a song he made for his mother as he was slowly succumbing to his illness. It’s a beautiful tribute to his family and a lo-fi classic. 

Nujabes lived a similar life. Rising to prominence in Japan in the 2000s, he first broke onto the U.S. scene due to his involvement in Samurai Champloo, an anime that took off in the states. He had been influenced by ’90s rap, but developed his dreamy style by using lighter samples. I personally think his work is what created modern lo-fi. He passed in 2010, but his impact is still being felt to this day. The ultimate Nujabes song (in my opinion) is Aurarian Dance. It was included in the Champloo soundtrack, and it’s what plays in my ears when I hear the word calm.

In the modern day, lo-fi has become a sort of student radio. Head to YouTube and search lo-fi. You’ll find tons of 24/7 “Lo-fi beats to chill/study to” radio-style streams, a staple of the student studying experience. But why has it become such a staple for so many students? On the podcast Speaking of Psychology, Dr. Gloria Mark proclaimed that our attention spans have consistently dipped since 2004. Over 19 years of research, her experiments found that the average attention span has shrunk from two and a half minutes in 2004 to roughly 47 seconds in 2023. Having background music that you can zone out to, yet doesn’t interrupt your actual studying, is a perfect solution for those who can’t stop checking their phone. I, for one, am ready for a finals week full of lo-fi. How about you?