The Hunt For The First Vaporwave Song

[@Zach-zm6dx]

jpegmafia is undoubtedly a legend in the music scene. i cant give him enough respect

[@Ziriceworld]

That part

[@thesteelshow433]

My Man Jpegmafia was making music while putting up mortors. What an absolute legend.

[@alejandrocum9375]

ITS DEVON HENDRYX

[@willis42069]

@@alejandrocum9375 there the same person bro 💀☠💀

[@DreamcastSummerSongs]

@@alejandrocum9375that was his pen name before jpegmafia

[@simse.]

thats a lucky ass @ @@DreamcastSummerSongs

[@asfifljiksduf]

@@DreamcastSummerSongs Still the same person bro

[@edde7611]

what a legend peggy is, definition of ahead of his time

[@facade5050]

DJ Screw is incredibly important to music as a whole. A real visionary.

[@tadknuf7979]

R.I.P. Screw, tonight we take it slow

[@tadknuf7979]

funfact: dreamcast summer songs was originally called "since i left you 2", because peggy was inspired by the avalanches

[@MegPovolo]

Seariosly? Didn’t know that

[@blohnnie7395]

This channel is under-rated. DJ Screw was the pioneer. So much respect that you feature him.

[@qqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqq-q]

For me its Boards of Canada’s unreleased tapes “A Few Old Tunes” and “Old Tunes Vol. 2” (1996), a lot of very forward thinking stuff for sure

[@DebunkFile]

I actually checked that one out while I was on my search but didn't feel like it fit enough. It definitely had the feeling of bringing you to another world, but in my humble opinion it didn't do enough to be considered Vaporwave! That might be just me though

[@yuckyskunk2021]

​@@DebunkFile yo have u heard 'your woman' by white town? its a fkng super dope trip hop song from like 1997, n the vocals r kinda reminiscent of 2d from the gorillaz. back when i was crazy (fkng hell), it came on a super weird radio station during a sudden heavy storm. it was surreal just to hear trip hop on the radio, let alone one of the best trip hop songs id ever heard, n then i found out it was from fkng 1995 or some shit. at first i was like, i mean thats not damon albarn right? its not like, nujabes "trip hop." its like, legit trip hop. with arguably uncanny lyrics to boot. dont watch the music video ur first time. just listen. apparently its been in some popular media, did not know that. its got a ton of views too. also if u want any ins for trip hop lemme know. i feel like trip hop n vaporwave r both very lush genres for ppl that gush over music.

[@yuckyskunk2021]

@@DebunkFile i know thats not what u guys r talking abt but unless the vaporwave parts of boards of canadas afot tape were from 1993 or earlier, dj screw obviously wins. like, factually lol. they were produced in 1996 so even if they fit the bill, dj screw was first. its called "old tunes" so they coulda been working on em for yrs but they woulda had to have made the vaporwavey parts before dj screws keep on doing it. im also assuming kodi wasnt the first thing dj screw ever made in that area.

[@Solodolo84]

@@yuckyskunk2021 I swear folks just over look Screw like he aint the pioneer of this whole wave. They just dont never wanna give nobody credit. All they do is change the name/rebrand things and feed it to folks that have no idea. Real ones know the deal. RIP Screw

[@somethingsomething9008]

Vaporwave is supposed to be looking to appear retro kinda defeats the purpose when it is retro

[@OfficialAfrat]

Dreamcast summer songs is so fkn good and it’s just one of the many masterpieces he made

[@BeyerEfendi]

I remember back in 2009 listening to Nobody Here with my friends in college. Had no idea it was going to be part of a musical cannon of something bigger!

[@chromatropes]

The thing is, Vaporwave isn't just a sonic genre, it's a conceptual genre as well, as it explored the ideas of collective memory and association with abstract images and videos, so I still do think that lopatin was the first to make Vaporwave both conceptually and sonically, with angel and nobody here

[@Miumiu0404]

Vaporwave is a collaboration of the art and music. Which is why it's one of the most unique musical experience. If one is missing, then it's not vaporwave at all. This was interesting though. Because it introduced me to great artists like JPEG Mafia. Listening to that dreamcast album and I'm loving it.

[@DebunkFile]

Glad I could put you onto him! He makes some of the absolute best music out there

[@Riddimsofcreation]

I mean the purple effect did come from chopped and screw representing sizzurp also called lean and purple drank which it was a heavy usage back in the day of this style. But as for the Greek statues and malls palm trees etc nah

[@cyanidechryst]

I LOVE dreamcast summer songs, old Peggy is so underrated

[@sm1249]

Peggy made DCS (originally since I left you II) in 08-9 but it was *released* in 2011, at least on bandcamp. It’s possible it was released earlier somewhere else but no record of that exists.

[@SkipRogersJr]

This is hilarious. When I first heard vaporwave, the only thing I thought was why are these kids stealing from DJ Screw and acting like its new? This is old stuff. We used to be able to get many albums that were screwed at the flea markets back in the 90s (I lived in florida, but screw was from texas so it was less prevalent here). But damn this was a great video and you earned a sub from me.

[@Solodolo84]

That what they do. The real ones know the deal, it aint a screw tape is Screw aint do it. He was chopping and cooking up folks like Kenny G, Loose Ends, and Najee back in the early 90s. Wineberry over Gold!!

[@SUNSHINE-t-m]

I mean yeah... We didnt invent slowing down music, nor sampling, not having nostalgia be a theme, not using shiny colours on cover art. Also like... having 80s style and samples n influences and having the commhity look back into oldmedia of course stiff from the 80 n 90s will be similar... they are unabashedly taking nspiration and cuts from it

[@memegazer]

Vaporwave actually originated in ancient egypt

[@GDNachoo]

this comment section is fascinating because i have literally no clue who DJ Screw is

[@tocide]

It's more like a discovery of a style that feels pretty distinctive of a world, emotion and immersion in music. Hopefully this journey would never stop and people make different kinds of music in the future aswell, would be be a boring world without it

[@gui-辻]

didnt even watch the video but id say dreamcast summer songs as a whole

[@BoomBang101]

Weird how you guys made a vaporwave video I was just listening to a bunch yesterday haha

[@hkr.knj8]

This is the proof that peggy is the best producer of our generation by fae

[@Error_4x5]

Screw died from mixing lean and Xanax. Even his drug use was ahead of it's time

[@dma3932]

Nice bro with the coverage of dj screw. I was not expecting that. Keep up the good work

[@DebunkFile]

Will do!

[@akalyx]

wayyy back before "what subgenre is this"

[@not_mario100]

vid starts at 5:50

[@forgottenelysium]

I think it is also worth mentioning James Ferraro as a pioneer of the genre. Especially with his visuals

[@DJPastaYaY]

So cool learning about the history of vaporwave!

[@DebunkFile]

It was a blast to learn and write about on our side too, glad you liked it!

[@Raisedbywolves13]

Go back 12 years look up DzL Wzrd frozen... and thats MF DOOMs homeboy so you know they were on to something... But 80 DEKA said he was the creator of Subpunk he was naming it after his best friend who died DJ SUBROC.

[@VAPYD]

Eccojams was the first, because all earlier works, while technically vaporwave-esque, lack the inherent "online" part. If you went purely by technique, of course DJ Screw is the founder. But that is completely missing the point of what vaporwave is. It's an audio-visual online art form, not just a certain way of making music.

[@quantumpalmtree]

I see someone is a man of culture with this urusei yatsuura images

[@gamedad1984]

I recently discovered Dj Screw and also heard he passed away. Pretty Sad if it's true. Great video keep up the good work.

[@noname-fk6rs]

Yep screw has been dead for 20 years. rip a true innovator.

[@parmchee6422]

I was listening to avalanches and mf doom back in the early 2000s

[@Doggmatic_]

Also, dj screw made a whole mixtape "funky ride" ch.349 using 80s contemporary r&b + soul including the song used here @ 14:25 Anita baker.

[@sorryyourenotawinner2506]

DREAMCAST SUMMER SONGS BABY

[@HoratioFitzbastard]

Island- Sunset by Software has to be the first tune to have the full vaporwave aesthetic. Going further back I feel like Norman Connor's 'You Are My Starship' is in the ballpark.

[@Solodolo84]

Starship is quiet storm r&b, still a banger tho. Michael Henderson bassline is gold

[@Urokioruki]

Agree

[@dubjeezee]

Lol. I grew up with Screw tapes, and until now never connected DJ Screw to vaporwave. But damn... makes sense!

[@jessehutchings]

DO WE EVEN KNOW WHO CREATED FLORAL SHOPPE??

[@tocide]

It's possible that vaporwave has been there ever since the discovery of the same elements that vaporwave has. But finding gems is a better conclusion than that.

[@marxunemiku]

fun fact dj screw was in the rap group screwed up click with GEORGE FLOYD

[@Litepaw]

I used to listen to DJ Shadow a ton when i was young. Damn, i have such good music memories from that era. Not necessarily vaporwave, but close enough to get me into a similar mindset and vibe.

[@chrism4008]

This makes me think of children discovering that their parents had a life before the kid was born 🤣🤣

[@veryAvefree]

PEGGY MENTIONED!!!!!!!!

[@gruntingskunk2237]

Thank you for always including the music in the description.

[@arazeal]

Idk that you could call it debunked with the logic that DJ Screw was an inspiration, though. With the way music evolves, everyone's always inspired by the people that came before them, and just because something's really similar doesn't mean it's the same thing.

[@arch4ngel]

The Disintegration Loops, 1982, check it out, might be the only vaporwave that goes back to the literal 80s itself...

[@stereoreserve]

The whole album is about 9/11, how was it made in 1982?

[@icarus313]

@@stereoreserve The tapes were recorded in the 80s but weren't put into an album until they were digitized. During that process, the tapes pretty much crumbled and fell apart as they'd been left in storage for years and the surfaces oxidized a whole bunch. Then, 9/11 happened and Babinsky chose to relate them to those events. It was a long time in the making and basically just an accident that he made into an art piece. Look up the story behind it, it's pretty neat! Wouldn't call it vaporwave though. Just ambient, but still very influential.

[@stereoreserve]

@@icarus313 Thanks, i forgot that the tapes predated the album lmao

[@iamcarpetpython]

what a lot of younger people think the 80's was like, was actually the early 90's. neon windbreaker jackets, wireframe computer graphics, and palm trees... This was all early 90's.

[@poweroffriendship2.0]

Vaporwave is basically Bladerunner in a form of a music genre.

[@FookMi69]

Or maybe its a glitch in the Matrix.. 🤔

[@arch4ngel]

That’s more so Synthwave/Outrun in my eyes

[@aniquinstark4347]

@@arch4ngel In everyone's eyes. The commenter above is just wrong.

[@Shellshokkr]

Daniel Lopatin did technically produce Eccojams from 2004, and those tracks show on his Collected Echoes Mixtape. It's basically a version of Eccojams from 2008 that was never released publicly and only given to his friends and family.

[@DavyManners]

Dan Bell has forever created a link in my mind between vaporwave and dead malls

[@maskmaskmaskmaskmaskmaskmaskma]

i definitely expected MF DOOM to be here, bistro reminded me so much of vaporwave

[@orbambassador5158]

eccojams actually go back all the way to 2003 but it was first published in 2009

[@Snook_GotIt_DaTrxpsta-Rx]

So this is basically a sun genre to chopped & screwed I neva heard of vapor wave b4 but I’m a die hard Screwhead when I was watch’n da begin’n of da video & I heard da 1st song Dj Screw was da 1st thing I thought about bcus basically screwed up music is made by slow’n down da pitch control settings on a turntable to slow da music down & frm what I heard da key element of vapor wave is a distorted slowed up pitch which is what Dj Screw created & popularized here down south in 1992 da same yr I was born I was not expecting to see or hear DJ Screw’s name in his video so now I gotta go check out this vapor wave music, da south has been so influential to rap music for da last 25 afta 2pac died we slowly climb’s to da top & have been on top since 98 when Master P had da top sell’n rap label releasing ova 20 albums dat yr afta learn’n how to run a successful label frm his mentor J. Prince who was da 1st black independent label to go major with da Ghetto Boys in 1989 then afta Master P Cash Money came along took da torch& every 3-5 we had a new artist pop up to bcum a top 10 billboard artist frm da south & we’ve had da longest run of any coast! #RipDjScrew #ScrewedUpClick #SUC4Life #LongLivePimpC #UGK4Life #QuitHatinDaSouth “Da South Got Sumn To Say!” -Andre3000 (1996 Source Award)

[@JasonMarino]

Keeping up the high quality videos, nice!

[@DebunkFile]

You know it 😎

[@jsca1082]

John Oswalds album Plexure from 1993 is this crazy chaotic sound collage album and beyond its pure chaos and borderline unlistenability it has some moments really similar to vaporwave

[@DonnyBomb]

Nice vid. I remember showing my dad some vaporwave music, and literally one of the first things he said was, "This reminds me of DJ Screw." We're locals of Texas and DJ Screw being popular back in the day it just made sense. Then this confirmed it lol

[@jacobrunkle4195]

Highly recommend City as Memory by John Foxx, the feeling, sound, and album art has always struck me as vaporwave-esque and it’s from all the way back in 97

[@daemon3582]

Daniel Lopatin's eccojams go back even further. Collected Echoes is a demo tape that apparently goes back to the years 2004-2008. I think the early Boards of Canada demos go back to the late 80s, and even ignoring the lost ones, those are probably the oldest things that align with the Vaporwave aesthetic.

[@_sparkdala_]

screw's was more a part of the chopped and screwed movement, and that was just DOOM's sampling style, while 18 carat affair's songs are more reminiscent of shoegaze, so I think that the first vaporwave songs were made by Peggy while mortars flew over his head

[@lee_drifting]

nah it all traces back to dj screw. vaporwave, slowed & reverb..

[@boomballing3598]

I've always found that the song ''If I saw you'' from Page to have a vaporwave vibe to it , I know it's not quite exactly Vaporwave , but the instruments used and the slow beat are just so similar

[@alanjackson724]

There's a song from '88 by Software that contains samples, has a nostalgic feel to it and has a Vapourwave-esc art style music video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nX6vYYOroK5oqKs

[@Alianger]

Memory casette+neon indian=vaporwave What is an official label in this context?

[@mattforgione9994]

I've been listening to a sub-genre of Vaporwave, Synthwave, for about 5 years now (think Vaporwave's rock n' roll/heavy metal cousin) and I LOVE the sound. It just makes my ears and brain so happy, I can't explain it. Thank you for the new playlist! Especially 18 Carat Affair and Daniel Lopatin. People who listened to Lazerhawk's Redline way back know what I'm talking about.

[@stonedrei]

I love 18 carat affair, thank you for talking about them!!! :)

[@orion.2072]

well, i consider island sunrise by software (1988) a vaporwave (specifically mallsoft) song, though im pretty sure its not sampled it does have that calm mellow sound you'd totally hear in a mall or like in a dead rising game

[@memorytheater]

Boards Of Canada’s We’ve Started Up and Trapped are also very early in the vaporwave aesthetic, and possibly pre-dating some of DJ Screw’s works. However, these weren’t released for quite a while and was only found by being leaked.

[@mantecorarecords]

We say yes to vaporwave, glitch, ambient and every strange kind of music in this world!

[@fraser9834]

The chill pill Charles Hamilton, golf swingers and DJ Screw are the oldest Vaporwave artists

[@wizsdm]

breh the spent passions album cover is pure vaporwave, closer than the JPeg one i feel🤔

[@FEVERDREAM1983]

If you use Chills voice and realize that this is a genius homage to Wikipedia this video finally makes sense

[@chunkadelic1]

Please check out a 2010 album called Long Distance by Onra. Also check out his follow up EP Deep in the Night. This album wasn’t considered vaporwave because the term probably didn’t exist at the time, but the music is definitely so.

[@SolomonMars]

Charles Hamilton?? As in Sonic the hedgehog sampling Charles Hamilton? wow.

[@alexis_electronic]

Can't believe another one of these left out the Boards of Canada "A Few Old Tunes" tapes ;(

[@DebunkFile]

Oh wow that one does match in a lot of aspects. Thanks for suggesting!

[@alexis_electronic]

@@DebunkFile I just wish I could've told ya about it before the vid! No knocks on ya for missing them, they're just favorites of mine and I'm sad to see them ignored in discussion of "pre-internet" vaporwave. They got me into electronic music when I was bit a small chile AFOT part 2 is definitely the more sample-heavy one though.

[@LadyTylerBioRodriguez]

I haven't the faintest idea what vaporwave was before this came out. Still found it interesting regardless. Read that for what you will.

[@Riddimsofcreation]

I had a feeling you were going to mention DJ screw as the first. It 100% makes sense that it’s DJ screw as the first one to do it ,because he started the chopped and screwed style of hip hop I always thought vaporwave wasn’t actually a new concept but I simple just thought vaporwavers had no clue about chopped and screwed so I figured maybe they thought the made something new. the art for chopped and screwed may not be palm trees and Greek statues but it always had a theme of purple which represents sizzurp.

[@TheDolphinTuna]

Vaporwave sounds like music from the 80s and 90s. Who'da thunk it?

[@SlyHikari03]

I love Daniel Lopatin!

[@alby1529]

6:20 Doesn't obscurity help to maintain purity?

[@chunkadelic1]

First vaporwave album I ever heard was Long Distance by Onra (2010)

[@alonso21100]

in the air tonight ,phill colins,saint germain des press cafe theres a hole lot of similar sounds out there and it stars from 95 and back

[@ruminoid]

Been drawing the connection between DJ Skrew and Vektroid for a while now and I'm really glad someone else said it. Incredible video! Check out Mu-Psych records and Cabaret Du Ciel for some real cool independent new age that might have inspired some of this aesthetic, imo. It's fun anyway

[@joe-pg1ck]

10:30 i may be wrong but wasnt the first jpeg album darkskin manson from 2014??

[@Jf2jf2jf2]

Fuck man. I really wanted to make this video.

[@SUNSHINE-t-m]

This question is like "Whats the first pokemon?" Theres various valid answers (Bulbasaur, Rhydon, Mew, Arceus)

[@VitaeOS]

This video was so great.

[@DebunkFile]

Thank you 💛💛

[@BalsamCX]

Always felt Eyes Without a Face by Billy Idol was semi-proto vaporwavy

[@helixxmusic]

I feel like the older songs are songs that can be sampled in modern vaperwave songs

[@motubucs8394]

2nd time watching the video since 2020. won't get old anytime soon

[@jennydeaf9O9]

14:07 the fact that you didn't choose the rhymes like dimes beat...i am seething.

[@HieronymusLudo]

I would like to have seen more about influences on artists, because that is usually the thread... You noted one of course. Good story though.

[@MxMe-su1ch]

The first vaporwave like song I remember was a MIDI remix of Castlevania 1's Vampire Killer music. This was back in the Napster days, and of course there was no album cover. It was probably not quite trance-like enough to be true vaporwave.

[@DebunkFile]

Oh interesting!

[@axowaffle3391]

JPEGMAFIA actually originally called dreamcast summer songs ‘Since I left you II’ because of the avalanches album

[@Virgie8289]

We should bring more about 52nd street samples

[@DonoZ420]

Old cities Aviv tapes are some of the best rap vaporwave

[@mcnuttington7122]

Another pretty good vapor wave song that came out in the 1980's is so good by the whispers

[@freeindialegionenjoyer1999]

I feel viper the rapper ironically created cloud rap with vapowave type instrumentals back in 2008

[@DebunkFile]

He’s definitely a pioneer in that sound. I haven’t done the research to see if he truly was the first, but he definitely would have been a really early one

[@blackmana]

no

[@PenumbranWolf]

The irony of asking a Vaporwave artist permission to do a video on their work is absolutely hilarious to me.

[@willfomes406]

If I may. I believe it was A Love Theme For Gargoyles By Jean Michel Jarre

[@shayshayshayshayshayshayshay]

Drinking game: take a shot every time he says “vaporwave”. I know it’s necessary for the video but that would be funny

[@AdiGrateles]

Pretty sure this is a song recc vid disguised as an internet treasure hunt. A lot of great beats I can't wait to check out. Also, this is the first time I've heard of Since I Left You being labelled "future funk" instead of just "plunderphonics". Makes tagging these sample-based tracks all the more confusing, if you ask me...

[@Anthropomorphic]

I went back and forth on whether or not you could really call DJ Screw the inventor of vaporwave for longer than I care to admit. What I've concluded: If we assume that a thing can only be invented once, and that not even vaporwave artists have to have verifiably derived vaporwave AS vaporwave from the alleged originator, and that vaporwave still counts as a distinct musical genre when stripped of all its non-musical connotations, then yes, it may be fair to say that DJ Screw invented vaporwave. Electronic subgenres can be really narrowly defined, with the only thing separating one from another being a few BPMs, or the genre the subgenre is sampling. It follows that the chopped and screwed technique applied to 80s pop songs could be a subgenre; and if that's basically vaporwave, and DJ Screw did that before anyone by virtue of inventing the chopped and screwed technique, then it follows that DJ Screw invented vaporwave. The only thing I'll question is this: vaporwave is commonly thought of as an inherently nostalgic genre, but can we really call DJ Screw's tracks nostalgic if they were actually made during the era vaporwave is said to be nostalgic for? Isn't that effectively saying that the early 90s is reminiscent of the early 90s? If so, 18 Carat Affair would arguably be the inventor of vaporwave by virtue of (presumably) being the first to adopt that style in order to evoke that requisite sense of nostalgia.

[@DebunkFile]

Fantastic point

[@nitrosrizko9803]

Yeah I think Lopatin was directly influenced by DJ Screw. The formula was already there for him. What he did with chuck persons was to add the aesthetic in a way making it a new genre of musical art. But I would argue that it's technically a sub genre of screw music. Dj screws "old school" is probably the first true "vaporwave" album. That album is all 80s soul and funk songs. DJ Screw is one of the most influential artist in rap as well. His style pushed the modern lean/syrup culture that dominates rap today. His followers even call him the originator since the 90s because other DJ's came out and did the same like Michael 5000 watts.

[@Solodolo84]

@@nitrosrizko9803 wasn't nobody doing what Screw was doing they way he was doing it at that time. True pioneer if there was any.

[@mindcorp.5260]

Dude, this was a really cool video. As some one who makes music heavily inspired by vaporwave ( check it out if you ever feel up to it, btw ) it was awesome to see some of the earliest influences and examples of the genre. Vaporwave is one of the most unusual, and interesting forms of musical expression. And you captured a lot of cool examples and over all feel to it. Happy thoughts.

[@Trav2016]

Used to be called mellow music that anime shorts from the 70's used.

[@imperialtutor8687]

G. Dep - Head over heals could be considered proto Vaporwave as well. Sure it is a straight up rap song but DJ Premier mixes an old funk tune in the background slowing it way down and cutting it up making it almost unrecognizable from the original sample. It even has this standing in an abandoned Mall feeling. Really cool track in general and its from 1997. Case in point the waters become really muddy when you dive into the 90s because so much Hip Hip artists back then already utilized plunderphonics to a great effect. I am talking about more so about the East coast stuff that was kinda Lo Fi from the get go as well. Vaporwave is simply has that specific attitude and the Aesthetics(not trying to meme here) that go along with it that differentiate it a bit from music in that era. I have to give DJ screws stuff a listen. Tons of producers intentionally/unintentionally did make Vaporwave to get that ultimate beat. Usually though the BPM are quite a bit higher than anything we consider a Vaporwave song. There are those slow jams though.

[@Noctilucentun]

With that being said.