Music

Tens of thousands of people, at any given time, are idly listening to the ambient, muted beats that accompany the Lofi Girl livestream: in solo studying sessions, taking tests in a classroom, and using the tunes as a stand-in for white noise to aid sleep. The livestream, which is one of the longest running live broadcasts on YouTube, is often hiding in browser tabs, leaving the perpetually busy Jade (the Lofi Girl) to lazily take her notes behind whatever Wikipedia page or spreadsheet you’ve got open. But she is always there, the googly eyes stuck to her headphones wobbling as she looks up from her notes, to peek in on, to study with, or to chill to—the details of the music become secondary to the vibe.

From a single livestream that’s been running in some form since 2017—the YouTube channel, which was started in 2015, was called ChilledCow before the iconic rebrand—Lofi Girl has grown into an empire. To put that growth into perspective, ChilledCow had 1.6 million YouTube subscribers in 2018, a number that grew to 5 million in 2020. Now, the channel has more than 15 million subscribers. The soundtrack of Lofi Girl’s brand of chill is pervasive, and the ubiquity of her aural and physical aesthetic made Jade a big business, her essence seeping into wider culture; Nissan harnessed the vibe to sell its electric car, Will Smith to sell hoodies, and even U.S. president Donald Trump in a maniacal attempt to sell his administration’s “Big Beautiful Bill.” Lofi Girl—the company—leverages its influence itself, expanding from simply a YouTube channel into an advertising arm, merchandising enterprise, and full blown record label.