On June 1, 2011 seapunk was immortalized on the internet via a Twitter hashtag, and a small band of web artists and electronic musicians began developing a look, sound, and ideology that they believed encapsulated the seapunk aesthetic. Inspired by the colors and sounds of the ocean and computer graphics of the late 1980s and '90s, seapunk took shape. Ultrademon, whom we interviewed for the video above, was one of the lead artists propagating the style.
By 2012, seapunk had amassed an unprecedented amount of buzz for the relatively small size of the subculture, with write-ups in everything from small fashion magazines and local newspapers to the New York Times. It wasn't until November of 2012, nearly a year and half later, that seapunk hit TV sets across the country with a Rihanna performance on Saturday Night Live. Watch the video above to see how the underground art community responded.
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