Hit Vibes is the ninth album by musician Ryan DeRobertis under the name Saint Pepsi (DeRobertis is more commonly known as his pseudonym Skylar Spence). DeRobertis is one of the first Vaporwave artists to be signed to an actual record label. Currently he is signed with Carpark Records and has released an album under this label.[1] Hit Vibes is an extremely popular album in the Vaporwave genre. It is freely available by DeRobertis and hit traction with its pop music influenced sound.
Rather than being purely Vaporwave, Hit Vibes is also described as a future funk album. Future Funk is a subgenre to come out of Vaporwave. Future Funk often is often more upbeat and a faster paced rhythm then traditional Vaporwave songs.[2]
DeRobertis describes his music as “pop music for freaks”. [3] The entire album has a very upbeat and pop music sound. The track Skylar Spence in particular sounds like a song that would play mall’s lobby during the 80s or 90s.
Saint Pepsi’s music has also inspired many fan made music videos on YouTube. Video editor David Dean Burkhart made a music video for the track Cherry Pepsi which also helped to launch Hit Vibes’ popularity. The video currently has about 4.7 million views on YouTube [4]
The album also has one of the most iconic openings to a Vaporwave song. At the beginning of the second track the listener is greeted with a woman saying, “It’s Saint Pepsi, bitch”. This phrase has been ironically used all around the Vaporwave community.
DeRobertis continues to make and produce under the name Skylar Spence. He has moved away from sample heavy music and turned to writing and creating his own original music. His music now still has some of the future funk vibes he is well known for. [5]
“Carpark Records | Artists.” Accessed April 30, 2018. http://carparkrecords.com/artists/. ↩
“Vaporwave.” Wikipedia, April 29, 2018. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vaporwave&oldid=838764041. ↩
“Carpark Records | Artists | Skylar Spence.” Accessed April 30, 2018. http://carparkrecords.com/artists/skylarspence/. ↩
David Dean Burkhart. SAINT PEPSI - Cherry Pepsi. Accessed April 30, 2018. https://youtu.be/OrR1TGQY20Y.↩
Carpark Records. Saint Pepsi Is Now Skylar Spence. Accessed April 30, 2018. https://youtu.be/f8ZTDqYoSi4.↩