Lo-fi hip-hop has become hugely popular - a little ironic, given its history. In the early days of hip-hop, and in the underground scenes of Memphis and Houston - Three 6 Mafia, and DJ Screw, the pioneer of chopped and screwed - artists made an original sound from tape machines and turntables. Recordings were often mono, signal chains overloaded, and tape and vinyl wore down with use. Those limitations created a texture. Lo-fi producers now recreate it deliberately.
Tempo and feel
A good tempo range is roughly 60-80 BPM. The feel is relaxed, swung and slightly behind the beat.
Lo-fi chords
Lo-fi leans on jazz harmony:
- Pick a key - say E minor.
- Use a ii-V-i progression - in E minor, F#m7b5 - B7 - Em7.
- Start with triads, then add sevenths, then try ninths.
- Use inversions for smooth voice leading.
- Humanise - offset the start of each chord slightly, and vary the velocity of each note so chords sound played rather than programmed.
Vintage-style synths and electric pianos suit the sound. Free emulations of classic instruments are widely available - for example, a free plug-in based on the Ensoniq SQ-80.
Drums
Dusty, soft drums, often sampled from records. Plenty of swing. Kick and snare tucked back slightly rather than slamming.
Lo-fi effects
- Tape and cassette emulation - wow and flutter (slow and fast pitch wobble), saturation, high-frequency loss.
- Vinyl simulation - crackle, hiss and surface noise. iZotope's free Vinyl plug-in is a classic.
- Bit and sample-rate reduction - for grit and aliasing.
- Extreme EQ - steep high and low cuts, resonant peaks, narrow bands - to make sounds feel old and boxed in.
- Mono - record or bounce parts in mono for a vintage image.
- Textures - layer field recordings: rain, waves, room noise, vinyl crackle.
- Heavy sidechain compression - high ratio, low threshold, fast attack, applied to chords so they pump with the kick.
Don't overdo it
The difference between a great lo-fi beat and a muddy mess is restraint. Apply effects to parts, not just the master. Keep the kick clear and the low end controlled. Degradation should add character without hiding the music.
Do this now
- Write a ii-V-i progression in E minor with sevenths and ninths, humanised.
- Add swung, dusty drums at 75 BPM.
- Put tape emulation on the chords, vinyl crackle on a separate track, and a steep low-pass on the drums.
- Apply heavy sidechain compression to the chords from the kick.