George Clanton
Born: 1988
Location: Ridgeway, Virginia, USA
Genre: Vaporwave, Chillwave, Hypnagogia
Years Active: 2014 -
Real Name: George Clanton Jr.
Meaning of the Name:
A.K.A.: CHINA, Esprit Fantasy, Mirror Kisses
Way of Working: Singular vision
Associated: Neggy Gemmy
Essential Releases
100%
Electronica (2015)
Vaporwave and chillwave. First record released under his own name.
Slide (2018)
Nostalgic trip into '90s electronica.
Ooh Rap I Ya (2023)
Multi-genre work of various electronic styles.
As both an artist and the owner of the independent label 100% Electronica, George Clanton is a hugely influential figure in the vaporwave scene. His label is home to some of the microgenre’s leading lights, including death's dynamic shroud and his wife, Negative Gemini.
While new forms of music traditionally emerge in a specific location as a response to changing social conditions and technological innovations, vaporwave came from the internet. Not in a superficial sense where the net simply acts as a delivery system, but fundamentally. The genre and its surrounding aesthetic, with its effects-laden, slow samples and distorted imagery, is a direct product of internet culture, existing primarily in the digital world.
In this disembodied space, immutable characteristics like age or gender are less important. Time and space become fluid and can be transposed at will. In our modern reality, you can listen to music from 1927 with a push of a button and talk to someone on the other side of the world almost instantly. This is why vaporwave album covers feature things like Roman busts next to a personal computer with Japanese text, and why its music combines disparate elements such as jazz and trip-hop drums.
This visual and sonic disconnect is central to the genre's themes of nostalgia and mockery. On the cover for his album Slide, for example, Clanton happily uses a children's toy, despite being a grown man. This playful subversion connects with the idea that for vaporwave artists, the past made a promise it failed to keep.
Despite this digital focus, Clanton has attempted to take the genre into the physical world by organising the first-ever vaporwave festival, 100% ElectroniCON, in 2019. While a moderate success in its own right, drawing 1,300 people, it was a triumph as a statement of intent for the genre. Many of the acts had very limited experience performing live, but subsequent shows, such as one in Los Angeles, drew 2,000 people. Both the 2023 and 2024 ElectroniCON events sold out quickly.
George Clanton isn’t just an artist, he's a man on a mission to make vaporwave a genre for the internet and beyond.
Skills
*This is a work in progress. Values are subjective.Emotional Impact
65
Mental Impact
55
Originality
55
Artistry
75
Authenticity
40
Live
55
Production
70
Musicianship
65
Textures
80
Songwriting
80
Danceability
75
Fun
80
Consistency
80
Range
85
Cool
35
Charisma
65
