[quote=@Utrax]
[i]*Pulls this thread from the abyss.*[/i] Hello! 

[b]Can someone explain the appeal of 'Vaporwave' in both a musical and aesthetic standpoint?[/b]

The music tends to be incredibly... generic. Regular music sampling in other genres have already covered the themes pretty well and, honestly, it seems to be just another name for lo-fi techno. 
On top of that, the aesthetic pictures/pallets/choice of ~whatever~ has already been covered by lo-fi techno as well. 
Kind of like how Disco and other genres came, had their aesthetics, then left eventually.
My main point of confusion is how it seems to be the same thing as something that already exists. It doesn't seem innovative at all. 

Is this just another generation's version of "cool music/art exclusive and created by us" type of thing?
Am I right or am I missing something here?
Why do people like it so much if it's so been there done that? Why are there so many people listening to it?
[/quote]

Frankly I only ever hear people talk about Vaporwave from an mostly memetic standpoint. Hence the whole A E S T H E T I C meme surrounding it.

Otherwise I suppose you could get away as describing it as being basically chillstep or whatever since the two genres sound synonymous to me. Then the only people you're going to piss off are the enthusiasists who'll no doubt go into great detail why you're WRONG when in actuality when you parse the components of even pop music you basically find out everything from jazz to blues, to rock to metal functionally operates on the same chord structure and progression so in technical details everything in the wide view is the same genre (it's why the term 'pop' exists), but differentiates in thematic presentation or topic.

It's something only music enthusiasts really bother with, or psuedo-types. Real ones get nerdy over orchestral arrangement. :^)