May 7th was my last final of my first year at college, and the day after, I moved out of my dorm. Which means I’m on summer break now!

Thing is, I’ve kind of spent the first week mindlessly lazing around at home…

So let’s talk about the perfect supplement to slow days… lofi music!

Lofi Girl’s channel.. obviously

If you’ve never heard of lo-fi music, the famous lofi hip hop radio 📚 - beats to relax/study to live stream is a must-listen.

When I first discovered the stream in the summer of 2019, I gained a huge appreciation for not only the music, but also the art on the stream as well. I don’t know why, but I absolutely love the day/night cycle, when it occasionally rains, and the snow that shows up during the winter. It’s such a peaceful and beautiful town.

Lofi Girl also occasionally publishes playlist videos! Here’s my personal favorite:

I remember when this mix first came out. I nearly fell asleep in a Geography class from listening to it because of how good it was. Jazz is so calming sometimes…

Lofi Girl’s been branching out to other genres recently. Jazz, synthwave, piano music… and that’s great! They’ve even done several collaborations with third-parties due to their popularity. Though.. I miss their old music.

Lofi Girl announcing their music becoming 'free to use'

In June 2021, Lofi Girl announced that all music provided on the channel would be free to use by creators. Which, of course, sounds like a great thing, right?

The only downside to this: a ton of music had to be removed in the process. Which means, if there was a song played on the radio before this change, it was now significantly more difficult to find on the Internet.

One of their compilation videos was removed as well - thankfully there were some people who reuploaded it…

If you scroll down to the comments, you can see the people who are also reminiscing about the old ChilledCow days…

Chillhop Music

The other large YouTube channel (3 million subscribers) that hosts chill-out music on their channel.

While they share some similarities to Lofi Girl, such as also featuring a lofi radio with nearly the same name as Lofi Girl’s, they’ve got a completely different vibe and I love it.

The main distinction is that they post a seasonal “Chillhop Essentials” longplay regularly. It is always something to look forward to no matter what’s going on in my life.

My favorite Essentials mix

Each mix features a gorgeous background with their mascot, the Chillhop Raccoon. Each year tells a different story… and a different art style!

  • 2020: The colorful outdoors and nature
  • 2021: Home on the countryside - starting this year, there are even different scenes…
  • 2022: Chillhop Raccoon moves to the city of Chillville
  • 2023: Chillhop Raccoon goes on numerous road trips
  • 2024: Chillhop Raccoon visits his hometown

Honestly, I might enjoy the art even more than the music at this point. It’s so relaxing to watch and listen at the same time.

The Jazz Hop Cafe

This music label primarily uploads themed mixes. Most of them are “jazzy” (hence the name), some are tied to a country, but there’s a lot of variety.

Sometimes their backgrounds are so surreal that I also take the time to just stare at them for a good 5 minutes.

wow, I want to spend time in an abandoned train in the skies!!

Also, their music just sounds and feels so much different than Chillhop Music/Lofi Girl, so it’s a great pick if it feels like your music is getting.. stale.

Dreamy

Dreamy isn’t a channel I listen to very often anymore, but occasionally they pop up in my recommended, and it’s pretty good. The channel doesn’t have the same atmosphere that the channels I’ve mentioned earlier do, but there are a few videos that take me back.

Notice how the landscape changes from a mountainous one to a wide-open sky after the first track!

Some other picks

Here are a few smaller artists/videos that I’ve found really memorable:

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