Vaporwave is a microgenre of electronic music and a subgenre of hauntology, a visual art style, and an Internet meme that emerged in the early 2010s, and became well-known in 2015. It is defined partly by its slowed-down, chopped and screwed samples of smooth jazz, 1970s elevator music, R&B, and lounge music from the 1980s and 1990s. The surrounding subculture is sometimes associated with an ambiguous or satirical take on consumer capitalism and pop culture, and tends to be characterized by a nostalgic or surrealist engagement with the popular entertainment, technology and advertising of previous decades. Visually, it incorporates early Internet imagery, late 1990s web design, glitch art, anime, stylized Greek sculptures, 3D-rendered objects, and cyberpunk tropes in its cover artwork and music videos.
Angel Olsen is an American singer-songwriter from St. Louis, Missouri who lives in Asheville, North Carolina.
Alissa White-Gluz is a Canadian singer, best known as the lead vocalist of the Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy, and former lead vocalist and founding member of the Canadian metalcore band the Agonist. Her vocal style includes both growling and clean vocals (singing). Although primarily associated with melodic death metal and metalcore, she has appeared as a guest vocalist for power metal, symphonic metal and deathcore bands, notably Kamelot, Delain, Carnifex and Powerwolf, and has performed live with Nightwish and Tarja Turunen.
Caroline Elizabeth Polachek is an American singer, producer, and songwriter. Raised in Connecticut, Polachek cofounded the indie pop band Chairlift while studying at the University of Colorado. The duo emerged from the late-2000s Brooklyn music scene with the sleeper hit "Bruises". In 2014, she released her first solo project, Arcadia, as Ramona Lisa. Under CEP, she released Drawing the Target Around the Arrow in 2017.
Kelela Mizanekristos is an American singer. She made her debut in the music industry with the release of her 2013 mixtape Cut 4 Me. In 2015, she released Hallucinogen, an EP which deals with the beginning, middle, and end of a relationship in reverse chronological order. Her debut studio album, Take Me Apart, was released in 2017 to critical acclaim. After a nearly 5-year hiatus, Kelela released her second album, Raven, in February of 2023.
Bianca Miquela Landrau, known professionally as Bia, is an American rapper and singer who debuted on the Oxygen reality television series Sisterhood of Hip Hop. She signed to Pharrell's I Am Other record label, in partnership with RCA Records in 2014. Her first EP, Nice Girls Finish Last: Cuidado, was released in 2018. She is best recognized for featuring on the 2016 single "Safari" by J Balvin and "Best on Earth" by Russ in 2019. In early 2020, Bia signed a new record deal with Epic Records, releasing her second EP, For Certain, on December 11, 2020. The EP spawned the single "Whole Lotta Money", which later was released as a remix featuring Nicki Minaj and reached the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100.
Sammy Boeddha Renders, better known by his stage name Sam Feldt, is a Dutch DJ, record producer and entrepreneur.
Anne-Marie Rose Nicholson is an English singer-songwriter. She has attained various charting singles on the UK Singles Chart, including Clean Bandit's "Rockabye", which peaked at number one, as well as "Alarm", "Ciao Adios", "Friends", "2002", "Don't Play" and "Kiss My (Uh-Oh)". Her debut studio album, Speak Your Mind, was released in 2018 and peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart. In 2021, she released her second studio album, Therapy followed by her third studio album, Unhealthy, in 2023. Both albums peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart.
The discography of American electronic music producer and DJ Illenium consists of five studio albums, four remix albums, four extended plays, thirty-six singles and eight music videos.
German DJ Robin Schulz has released five studio albums, two DJ mixes, 40 singles and one promotional single. Schulz achieved his worldwide breakthrough with his remix of Mr. Probz's "Waves" (2014), which reached the top ten of the charts in over ten countries, while further peaking within the top ten in various other. It was also certified—among others—Platinum in both the United Kingdom and the United States. While the disc jockey's follow-up recording, "Prayer in C" (2014), was met with similar commercial acclaim, two fellow singles from his debut studio album Prayer (2015) were released, including a collaboration with Jasmine Thompson.
Ofenbach is a French DJ duo founded in 2014, consisting of Dorian Lauduique and César de Rummel and based in Paris. Their gold-certified song "Be Mine" charted on the Billboard Dance/Mix Show Airplay reached number 35. After releasing songs like "Around the Fire" and "You Don't Know Me", they gained support from artists such as Robin Schulz and Tiësto. They are also known for remixing songs from Bob Sinclar, Hyphen Hyphen, and James Bay.
Stephanie Victoria Allen, better known by her stage name Stefflon Don, is a British rapper and singer. She rose to fame after her 2017 single "Hurtin' Me" peaked at number 7 on the UK Singles Chart. In 2016, Allen released her debut mixtape Real Ting followed by another mixtape, Secure, in 2018.
Moa Anna Maria Carlebecker, better known by her stage name Cazzi Opeia, is a Swedish DJ, singer and songwriter.
Black Dresses are a Canadian noise pop duo consisting of Ada Rook and Devi McCallion, formed in 2017. Their debut album, Wasteisolation, was released independently in 2018. The duo released three additional albums, Thank You (2019), Love and Affection for Stupid Little Bitches (2019), and Peaceful as Hell (2020), before breaking up in 2020 in response to harassment received by McCallion. Despite maintaining their declaration of disbandment in 2020, Black Dresses has released two additional albums, Forever in Your Heart (2021) and Forget Your Own Face (2022).
Ania Tarnowska, known professionally as I Ya Toyah, is a Chicago, USA musician, singer, composer, producer, performer, and the founder/CEO of Femme Fatale Records label. Her genre-bending music incorporates elements of multiple genres including industrial, electro-industrial, goth electro, punk electro, electronic rock, metal, and synthwave. It best fits in the alternative music category.
Spiritbox is a Canadian heavy metal band, originally from Victoria, British Columbia, publicly established by guitarist Mike Stringer and vocalist Courtney LaPlante in October 2017. The band's full lineup comprises married couple LaPlante and Stringer alongside drummer Zev Rose, and bassist Josh Gilbert. The band's style incorporates electronic elements and draws from a variety of influences, crossing multiple metal subgenres with its roots in metalcore and progressive metal. Their music is currently released through their label, Pale Chord, via a partnership with Rise Records.
Luxury Elite is an anonymous American musician known for her significant influence in the vaporwave genre. During the 2010s, her lo-fi sound and visual style, along with her relaxed melodies, made her an impactful figure in the "late night lo-fi" subgenre. She also produced music under the aliases 1-800-TONIGHT, night video, and television archives.
Death's Dynamic Shroud is an American electronic and vaporwave trio consisting of James Webster, Tech Honors, and Keith Rankin. The band releases a large amount of music regularly as sample-driven mixtapes under the .wmv moniker, in addition to releasing more standard mainline albums.
Leah Chisholm, known professionally as LP Giobbi, is an American DJ and music producer. As a classically-trained jazz pianist, she is known for her style of piano house music.
Luke Laurila, better known as Telepath, is an American musician notable for his considerable impact within the vaporwave scene. During the mid-2010s, his ambient sound and dream-like presentation turned him into the main originator of the slushwave subgenre. He also released albums under the alias Virtual Dream Plaza, and his current music is under the pseudonym Tianhuojian.
