Hello Internet!
And welcome to Behind the Meme!
Where we take a look at the meaning and the origin of your favorite memes and trends!
Today we have a look at - Vaporware & A E S T H E T I C.
This video has been requested by a handful of my
viewers but it's been a hot topic on
Reddit lately with many people asking
questions and discussing the topic.
It's obvious that more people are becoming
aware and interested in this unique
topic and when I started to look into it
it sparked my interest as well.
So let's see what it's all about.
Here. We. Go!
So what exactly is Vaporwave and Aesthetic?
Well first off, they are two separate
things, but they are tied together.
I know that sounds confusing, but let me explain.
Let's talk about Vaporwave. What is it?
Well to put it simply, it's a genre of
music. A genre that doesn't involve Justin Bieber.
Thank God. But it is a genre that
first evolved and originated from
modern-day Internet culture sometime
during 2011. What defines the genre is a
heavy emphasis on eighties and nineties
music and sounds. Particularly smooth
jazz and elevator type music. Two of the
most exciting genres of music.
Am I right? As well as various other samples
from a variety of songs all having a
retro fill, which are often cut up, slow down
sped up and edited in a variety of
ways essentially creating something
brand-new in the process. But as always,
the best way to understand something is
to see an example or in this case, hear an example.
*music playing*
That song is often cited as being one of
the first uses of the genre, and has
inspired countless other pieces of work.
The genre has been described as the
degrading a commercial music in an
attempt to reveal the false promises of capitalism.
Damn that shit's pretty deep, and here I
was just thinking it's a music genre.
Boy, was I wrong.
Rock (wrong) that is absolute (wrong) proved over and over
again (wrong) we actually at... Since it's creation,
the genre has spread online and become
very popular amongst the listeners who
are exposed to it's sound. Now earlier in
the video if you remember which I hope
you do because if not you might have
Alzheimer's.
I said that Vaporwave Anesthetics are
different, yet tied together. So let me
explain that. Generally Vaporwave is the
genre of music and aesthetic's stylized
with the spacing of it's letters, is the
visuals that often accompany the music.
The visuals are clearly influenced by
the eighties and nineties and have a
retro style that is defined by a handful
of common characteristics. Such as
Japanese lettering, retro computer and
gaming elements, classic statues, soft
pastel color schemes and an apparent
low-quality. This style of art was soon
adopted by Vaporwave enthusiasts and
became very popular on Tumblr. Eventually
both the music and art merge to make one.
Together they have created a subculture
on the Internet that many enjoy being a
part of and sharing. In February of 2012
Vaporwave artist: Macintosh Plus released
the album: Floral Shop, which perfectly
blended the two worlds together
*music playing*
That album cover has helped make the
aesthetic art style very popular
spotting it's own series of memes where
people remix and parody the original art.
Sometimes in humorous and strange ways.
So that's Vaporwave and Aesthetic, but it
doesn't end there.
These two worlds have spawned a
completely different yet related genre
video here on YouTube known as
Simpson wave. Simpson wave is a video
remix series that features clips from
the animated television show The
Simpsons. Which are edited to include
Vaporwave music as well as aesthetic
retro visual effects. It sounds kind of
strange because it is.
*talking*
When you stumble upon one of
these videos, you know you're on the
weird side of YouTube and believe it or
not this genre video is actually quite
popular on YouTube with many of the
videos getting hundreds of thousands of
views. I'm not exactly sure why, but then
again it is the Internet, the Internet is
the place where things like this exist.
Nothing to see here guys, just another
asian kid having an orgasm over oranges,
you know, Internet stuff. With the
popularity of Vaporwave anesthetics
growing, it has began to move from the
underground Internet seen into the mainstream.
So there you have it: Vaporwave
anesthetics. Hopefully you understand it
just a little bit better after this
video. I'm not gonna lie, it's kind of
confusing, but the best way to understand
something is to be exposed to it. In my
opinion it's not only unique and strange,
but it's also pretty interesting.
It's like people put a bunch of retro
stuff in a blender, cut it all up and mix
it together then put it in the oven and
just saw what came out.
Although you don't put a blender in an
oven so that doesn't exactly make sense
but you guys, you guys understand what i'm
talking about. But HEY, that's the
Internet for you and on the Internet:
Memes are king.
Thank you all so very much for watching,
make sure to subscribe so you can catch
my next video and stay up-to-date on all
your favorite memes. Who knows? You may
learn about a meme you
never knew about before. I'll catch you guys
next time.
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)