As a purely net-based genre of music, vaporwave has been both exalted and vilified in various corners of the world wide web. In places like 4chan, Reddit, and Tumblr, not only do memes abound, but massive collections of artists and fans also collaborate to perpetuate the growth of this infectious style of leftfield retro nostalgia. /mu/ is known for its essentials guides, graphics that describe a genre of music in its simplest terms and recommend a shortlist of “essentials”, releases that perfectly encapsulate the style of music being discussed. While an essentials guide for vaporwave became available years ago, an “ultra edition” has recently surfaced. Gargantuan in scope and scale, it delves into spinoff subgenres of vaporwave like future funk and vaportrap and boasts a daunting list of vaporwave “essentials”. Hopefully, this unmuddies the waters for those of you that aren’t already drinking Fiji water and decorating your bedrooms with Greco-Roman busts.
