FUNCTUMUS: The Functional Turn in Music investigates the effects of music’s functionalisation through a case study on lofi hip-hop, a genre that was reframed as “beats to relax/study to” by internet curators in the late 2010s.
Objectives:
Assess how lofi hip-hop and its functional reframing is understood within online communities.
Investigate how the subsequent development of lofi hip-hop has been experienced by producers, curators, and listeners of the genre.
Identify and analyse musical change in lofi hip-hop since its reframing as functional music (rhythm, groove, compositional structure, instrumentation, effects, mixing).
Consider how shifts within lofi hip-hop (musical practices, style, etc.) are understood as reflective of broader systemic issues.
