![Slowed + Reverb Slowed + Reverb meme example depicting two hugging wojaks.](https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/mobile/000/037/965/cover4.jpg)
Slowed + Reverb
This submission is currently being researched & evaluated!
You can help confirm this entry by contributing facts, media, and other evidence of notability and mutation.
About
Slowed + Reverb is remixing technique popular among amateur music producers that involves slowing the tempo of a song down and adding a reverb effect to it. The technique is a simpler version of the chopped and screwed technique developed in the 1990s by DJ Screw and has been called a "gentrified" version of it. Starting in 2020, the increasing popularity of the technique, particularly among Gen Z listeners on YouTube and TikTok, resulted in it becoming a subject of memes. Slowed + reverb remixes are generally associated with feelings of melancholy and wistfulness.
History
Chopped and Screwed
Slowed + reverb is a derivative of chopped and screwed, a hip-hop remixing technique developed by Houston producer DJ Screw.[1] The chopped and screwed technique involves slowing the tempo of the song down and applying a number of techniques to make the song sound "chopped-up," such as record scratching and skipping beats (example video shown below).
Slowed + Reverb
Both slowing and adding reverb have been elements of vaporwave, a music genre that achieved major popularity online in the mid-2010s. For example, リサフランク420 / 現代のコンピュ, the second track on signature vaporwave album Floral Shoppe, is based on a slowed-down sample of the 1984 song "It's Your Move" by Diana Ross, with reverb effect also applied (seen below).[2]
Slowed + reverb developed into an independent technique in 2017, when Houston-based producer Jarylun "Slater" Moore, inspired by DJ Screw, started producing slowed + reverb remixes of popular songs and uploading them to YouTube.[3] The original channel has since been deleted. The first video uploaded by Moore, a slowed + reverb version of Lil Uzi Vert's song "20 Mins" accumulated over one million views within one month and over four million views prior to being removed. On February 25th, 2018, Slater reuploaded the video, with the reupload gaining over 27 million views in three years (shown below).
In 2018 and 2019, the technique gained widespread popularity on YouTube with slowed + reverb remixes often being set to clips from anime series (example videos shown below, left and right).
Online Recognition
In 2020, following the popularization of the genre on YouTube, the remixing technique gained further recognition. In March 2020, Wecb[2] published an article on the trend titled, "What’s Up with ‘Slowed + Reverb’ Music?" In April 2020, Pitchfork[3] then published an article about slowed + reverb remixes.
On December 13th, 2019, and February 1st, 2020, Twitter[4][5] users @keshimusic and @m1kes_ made the earliest viral tweets about the genre, with the posts gaining over 400 retweets and 2,500 likes and 1,400 retweets and 5,500 likes, respectively (shown below, left and right).
![slowed + reverb kinda night keshi @keshimusic slowed + reverb kinda night 8:25 PM · Dec 13, 2019 · Twitter for iPhone](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/169/209/6ad.jpg)
![When you listen to your favourite song in slowed + reverb M1kes @m1kes_ When you listen to your favourite song in slowed + reverb Pitch @Pitchotaro · Jan 26, 2020 Bomboclaat 3:00 PM · Feb 1, 2020 · Twitter for iPhone](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/169/212/151.jpg)
In 2020, slowed + reverbed remixes gained notable popularity on TikTok. In early August 2020, TikToker @songpsych posted a now-deleted video in which she analyzed the popularity of slowed + reverb remixes, crediting Slater with the creation of the genre. On August 11th, 2020, Twitter[6] user @netfreak_gab posted the video to Twitter, where it gained over 1.2 million views, 3,700 quote tweets and 5,000 likes, with other users pointing out that DJ Screw should be given proper credit[7][8] (example tweets shown below, left and center). On August 14th, 2021, @songpsych posted a follow-up TikTok[9] in which she explained that DJ Screw's chopped and screwed remixes inspired slowed + reverb remixes (shown below, right).
![Not white teens on tik tok thinking they invented slowed + reverb ezra / tobi ★ 57/90 @stylizhspit Not white teens on tik tok thinking they invented slowed + reverb music love that is called "chopped and screwed" and it was popularized by BLACK Houstonian rapper DJ Screw in the 90's before any of y'all we're even born. D L CLICA FATAT 2:29 PM · Aug 13, 2020 · Twitter for iPhone](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/169/253/95d.jpg)
![y’all not about to sit up here and act like 16 year old white kids made slowed and reverb music Darius š ... @ltsWhiteDarius I just saw why DJ Screw was trending.. y'all not about to sit up here and act like 16 year old white kids made slowed and reverb music. Screw worked too hard for y'all to completely dismiss his legacy and gentrify his art form. R.I.P to the TRUE KING of the south 4:43 PM · Aug 13, 2020 · Twitter for iPhone](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/169/256/f70.jpg)
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/6860867860118555910
Use in Memes
The increasing popularity of the remixing technique online found reflection in memes starting in August 2020. The initial memes commented on the melancholic mood of slowed + reverb remixes.
On August 8th, 2021, Instagram[10] user sosa_on_the_beat posted the earliest discovered meme about slowed + reverb remixes, a Clever Thoughts meme that received over 61,000 likes in one year (shown below, left). On August 23rd, 2020, Instagram[11] page music.shitposting posted a meme that gained over 25,000 likes in one year (shown below, center). On September 14th, 2021, Instagram[12] user unfriendlymemepage posted the earliest found meme that ridiculed the seeming overuse of the remixing technique. The post gained over 3,700 likes in one year (shown below, right).
![Damn, the Slowed Down + Reverb Version of This Song Hits Different "Tm going thru a lot a right now. I should seek help." Damn, the slowed down + reverb version of this song hits different @sosa on_the_beat](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/169/262/5d6.jpg)
![It's Because You Listen to Slowed + Reverb I'M SURE HE BROKE UP WITH ME BECAUSE I'M UGLY OH NO DON'T SAY THAT YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL It's because you listen to slowed+reverb songs on youtube](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/169/264/510.jpg)
![LoFi Fans When the Audiobook Doesn't Have a Slowed + Reverb Version lofi fans when the audiobook doesn't have + reverb a slowed version](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/169/266/863.gif)
In the following year, slowed + reverb remixes have been referenced in multiple memes, including both memes which highlighted the melancholic mood associated with the remixes and memes ridiculing the overuse of the technique.
Various Examples
![Wheels on the Bus - Slowed + Reverb The wheels on the bus go round and round MOODPH. Wheels on the bus - Slowed + reverb | Cocomelon](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/169/271/ac6.jpg)
![14 y/os adding Slowed + Reverb Perfectly good music Slowed 14y old girls Reverb Perfectly good music OO](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/169/279/2bd.jpg)
![Slowed Reverb Is Not a Genre @YAMCMH SLOWED REVERB IS NOT A GENRE If those kids could read they'd be very upset](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/169/270/4e8.jpg)
![Don’t nobody work faster than the slow and reverb community marcuss ... @DrugsMedia Don't nobody work faster than the slow and reverb community Normani & Cardi B - Wild Side (Slowed + Reverb) 622 views · 20 minutes ago #normani #wildside #slowed 88 2 Share Download Create Sav WerTayin 4.4K subscribers SUBSCRIBE 12:23 AM - Jul 16, 2021 · Twitter for iPhone](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/169/276/739.jpg)
![Slowed + Reverb CLASSIC VAPOR HYPNAGOGIC POP HYPNAGOGIC FUNK PLUNDERPHONICS Slowed+ VHS POP VHS FUNK FUTURE FUNK CHILLWAVE reverb SYNTHWAVE RETROWAVE OUTRUN SEAPUNK WITCH HOUSE GLO-FI VAPORTRAP VAPORHOP VAPORFUNK CLOUD RAP POST-VAPOR PROTO-VAPOR PIZZAWAVE MEMEWAVE LATE NIGHT LO-FI BROKEN TRANSMISSION SIGNALWAVE DREAMWAVE VAPORNOISE ECCOJAMS MALLSOFT](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/169/265/9bf.jpg)
![Someone just told me I speak “slowed + reverb” Corpse Husband O @Corpse_Husband Someone just told me I speak "slowed + reverb" 1:35 AM · Sep 28, 2020 · Twitter for iPhone](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/169/268/1ef.jpg)
Search Interest
External References
[1] Wikipedia – Chopped and screwed
[2] Wecb – What’s Up with ‘Slowed + Reverb’ Music?
[3] Pitchfork – How Slowed + Reverb Remixes Became the Melancholy Heart of Music YouTube
[4] Twitter – @keshimusic
[6] Twitter – @netfreak_gab
[7] Twitter – @stylizhspit
[8] Twitter – @ItsWhiteDarius
[9] TikTok – @songpsych
[10] Instagram – sosa_on_the_beat
[11] Instagram – music.shitposting
[12] Instagram – unfriendlymemepage
Recent Videos
There are no videos currently available.
Top Comments
Everything is Terrible
Aug 09, 2021 at 04:22PM EDT
Stone Imp
Aug 09, 2021 at 04:51PM EDT