By Louise Marzolf-Miller

Green sweater, hair pulled back into a ponytail, looping through her writing and switching through pages, she draws in thousands to her Livestream, playing the latest soft beats. Lofi Girl, known for her long live streams and easy-to-listen-to music, became revered among the online community late last year. After the owner of the channel’s power cut out, YouTube temporarily took down the channel, resulting in an outcry from many who loved the calming music demanding an explanation from YouTube. The profound reaction from so many forced YouTube to unban the channel and its live streams, bringing the streaming, knitting community, and outsider community even closer together. But what about an unknown YouTube channel simply continually streaming “beats to study [and] relax to” could evoke such a passionate reaction?

As demand increased for everyone to stay home during the COVID-19 pandemic, many have found it hard to remain productive. More people than ever have been forced to work remotely and in environments not associated with productivity. For many, our Lofi Girl and her daily selection of accompanying beats provided a welcome and appropriate vibe to work to or to simply relax to. Further, the streams avid fanbase and its anime cover girl took the online meme community by storm, introducing even more to the instantly likable stream.

Lofi music, slang for Low-Fidelity music, consists of three parts: music loops, a dusty beat, and sub and foley. The loops can be a jazzy chord or part of an already existing hip-hop beat. These beats have been clinically shown to have a positive effect on the mind. According to a Cambridge study from 2017, hip-hop beats can actually stimulate the brain in terms of emotion, motivation, and motor function and processing. Consequently, more work is done as a cause of listening to hip hop beats.

A dusty beat and sub-baseline bring the classic foundation but it is the foley sounds that tie the knot, as raindrops or wind chimes hone that last element that truly makes Lofi music the addictive and instantly likable phenomenon millions have come to know and love.