The Essence of Vaporwave and Synthwave Music

Back in 2025, I was adding songs to my playlist until I ran into a genre that immediately attracted me: vaporwave. This microgenre emerged in the early-2010s, which reminds everyone of 1980s and 1990s nostalgia. When you watch any vaporwave video either on YouTube or YouTube Music, the aesthetics are usually neon, pinks, purples, and blues. Vaporwave music has slow tempos, which what I love the most about it. It's almost like you've gone inside a time machine, and you were transported to the decade you grew up in. Vaporwave music is perfect to listen to while you're sleeping, cleaning up the house, or at work. I in love with nostalgia and this subgenre is helps me relax. If you were to ask me which artists I currently listen to, I would say that I wasn't familiar with anyone. Meanwhile, synthwave emerged around the mid to late 2000s. It's mainly associated with soundtracks of some of your favorite movie genres of the 1970s and 1980s, such as action and science fiction.

I do follow a couple of vaporwave and synthwave channels on YouTube: Chill City FM and driftive dreams, with the latter garnering a total of over 10 million views. Both channels have great videos I can watch and listen to anytime. The images in both of their videos will feature anything from movies that we grew up watching as children to just random pop culture-related items from decades ago. I'll have links to both of the aforementioned channels down below.

Whenever I listen to a song from either one of these genres, it almost feels like I'm in one of my favorite 80s or 90s movie or TV show. As obsessed as I am about nostalgia, I imagine immersing myself into a moment I remember as a kid. Wearing fashionable clothes that were trending in either one of the aforementioned decades while drinking a cold, crisp Coca-Cola. It's like stepping into a time machine. YouTube, as much as I heavily dislike them for their ridiculous censorship rules, is the closest thing to a time machine. For example, I watch an hour-long vaporwave video and instantly, I regularly create scenarios in my head of me enjoying the aesthetics and living in the moment.

I'm not concerned if either vaporwave or synthwave is still a thing or trendy. Listening to and watching compilation videos of both genres is all I want to do. Plus, I treat them as part of my daily self-care routine. As for what other types of music I listen to, I listen to just about anything except heavy metal. I have nothing against it. It's just that I can't get into it.

So, which genre do I personally prefer between vaporwave and synthwave? I heavily lean towards vaporwave, because I love the neon aesthetics, art, and most importantly, they remind me of my childhood. The different images ranging from Saturday morning cartoons to the things I loved doing as a kid. As I've stated earlier, I don't know any vaporwave artists. I should probably look some up, watch their videos, and see if they're worthy of adding to my playlist.

Music in general relaxes me and it's my moment to let go of all of the worries in the world. Sometimes, we need an escape from reality, even it's for a short period of time. On a good night whenever I'm about to go to sleep, I'll select a vaporwave video compilation and relax. Don't get me wrong. I also listen to synthwave, but vaporwave rules. I'm glad that I discovered both genres last year. They keep me busy at work and when I call it a night. Give both genres a chance and you'll be in heaven.

Chill City FM - YouTube

driftive dreams - YouTube