What is Vaporwave?

The Origins

From the music, digital wallpapers, Roman/Greek head bust and more, vaporwave has become a popular subculture around the world. Yet, where did vaporwave come from?

Well, I don’t know where it came from but I can tell you it probably all started before the Internet. Some sources say it started in either the late 1970s or 2009. I didn’t know which one it was, so I went on a very credible website to find out.

I went on to Reddit ☺. This place is a source where beings come together to argue about anything (which is very funny). I went into a vaporwave thread to figure out the origins of vaporwave.

Only one word pointed put vaporwave’s origins and that is Plunderphonics. I will spare you the long definition of this word. It basically means sampling multiple audios together to make a new sound. Which is exactly like vaporwave.

There are many names that contributed to vaporwave like:

• DJ Screw
• James Ferraro
• Chuck Person
• Georges Rodi
• And more!

The Image

Everyone loves the oddity that vaporwave brings in the art world as well. The genre is based off old school Windows software, Roman/Greek sculptures, glitch art, and aesthetics.

There’s nothing much to day about the art style but its captivating. The different styles that should be clashing with one another are in perfect harmony. Thus making it aesthetic and a great wallpaper for your PC or phone.

The Music

Ah the music! The slow melody pulls people in and never let’s them go. Vaporwave consist of heavy use of 80s, 90s, and 00s samplings. They are usually smooth jazz songs, lounge songs or even chillwave. The songs are usually down pitched, layered and uses the chopped/screwed style.

There many famous vaporwave songs that execute this process:

• Macintosh Plus
• Private Caller - Saint Pepsi
• Resonance - Home
• Purity Boys - Blank Banshee

Why is Vaporwave A-e-s-t-h-e-t-i-c?

Simple, aesthetic is a word that means the appreciation of beauty. We as lovers of this genre are bound to the subculture. Vaporwave was purposely created to give us that hypnotic tune. This tune that we can’t shake causes us to reminisce about the good old days. Making us go through nostalgia just for the hell of it. Which isn’t bad but we must appreciate this genre for giving us a piece of mind once in a while.

Thank you for reading!