It’s no secret that we’ve been heavily influenced by lo-fi music, art, and the community surrounding it. As a brand, we wanted to pay homage to the incredible collection of artists we’ve found, and the music that has both inspired our aesthetic and helped us through some rainy days.

There’s a lot we could say about all the amazing things we’ve learned about the lo-fi community. The more we saw, the more we loved what we found. For us, CBD and lo-fi just kind of go together.

This week, we wanted to take a break from some of the science and tell you a little bit more about our own story, all while giving our thanks to the incredible community that inspired the brand that you see today.

The Beginnings

When we set out to create a CBD brand, we wanted to do something a little different. When doing our research, we saw a lot of vague claims around health and wellness. Not wanting to feed the ‘snake oil’ narrative, we decided that our brand would be grounded in science. From there, it was about finding a vibe that felt like it fit.

We were developing this brand during the lockdown where most of us were working remotely and listening to lo-fi music in the background. Along the way, we noticed that the music we were listening to gave us a sense of chill and focus that we didn’t get from other music. That’s when we started to see a parallel between what CBD does for the body and what lo-fi music does for the mind. As we explored that connection further, we knew we had found our vibe.

The Lofi Community

This is when we began our exploration into lo-fi culture. We knew it was about great music and cool cover art, but what else was there? The more we learned, the more inspired we were by the community behind the music.

As we started looking into the history of lo-fi music, we found some interesting dynamics. One of the first things we noticed was the role that chill music has played throughout history. In the last 100 years, we noticed that when times are hard, we prefer our music soft. In a curious way, perhaps we’ve been using music as a form of therapy, helping us get back to our baseline.

We couldn’t listen to the music without seeing all the cool album art and that’s what helped us truly appreciate the creative spirit within lo-fi culture. It’s unlike anything we’ve seen in the mainstream, and we think that has a lot to do with a culture of artists engaging artists. Leaning into the creative process and letting artists create what they want to create has led to some of the most inspired art we’ve ever seen. By the time we saw how supportive the community was of one another, we knew we had found something special.

The Heart of Lofi

Something we found within the lo-fi community was a resilience in art and expression. For years, the music industry told the people what they wanted to listen to, and at times, they passed on brilliant artists that should’ve had every opportunity to create. Did they give up on their passion? Of course not. Some found a way; some made a way.

Another dynamic that we stumbled upon was how supportive the lo-fi community was of one another. The first place we saw this was the classic lofi hip hop radio channel on YouTube. The comment and chat sections on YouTube tend towards hostility but not with lo-fi. This was a community of young folk from all over the world who were just being kind to one another. Given the times we live in, that really tugged at our heart strings.

Somehow, lo-fi was both rebellious yet wholesome, and that really resonated with us. Given the barriers to entry in our industry driven by big business and questionable regulations, we felt a connection to the lo-fi community. If we could disrupt this industry to the benefit of the consumer, it would mean the world to us.

The Lofi-CBD Connection

Just as the culture of lo-fi supports and uplifts, we wanted to create a CBD brand with products that support and uplift the CBD community. That means quality products that are affordable and accessible. We’re also keen on finding artists within the cannabis community who can help expand on our brand’s graphic language.

With our vision in place, we set out to create a name for ourselves. Not wanting to be too obvious about it, we started off by deciding that we wouldn’t name the brand LoFi. Instead, we set out on the lengthy process of name deliberation, debating between some cool names until we almost had something pinned down.

Just as we were about to pick the name of our brand, our CEO let us know that we had reached an agreement with a legacy brand called High-Fidelity and would help bring them to market in the new year. This brand would focus on high-THC solventless extracts, the stuff that definitely gets you high. Having found out that we’d be bringing the HiFi brand to market, we accepted our destiny and named the brand LoFi.

TL;DR

We love lo-fi. We love the music, the art, and the culture. The more we looked into it, the more we came to love community. The values of creativity, kindness, and rebellion really resonated with us. When it came time to name the brand, we decided to embrace the movement in every sense, including the name. No hiding where we draw our inspiration from, just LoFi vibes for all.