Stylistic origins House
disco
funk
boogie Cultural origins Mid-1980s, United States Typical instruments Synthesizer
keyboards
sampler
drum machine
sequencer | ||
Funky house, also known as disco house, is a subgenre of house music that uses funk or disco samples, a funk or disco-inspired bass line or a strong soul influence, combined with drum breaks that draw inspiration from 1970s and 1980s funk or disco records. The use of disco strings are also common in the genre, although not always.
Like most variants of house, the genre makes heavy use of synthesizers, samples and soulful vocals, although unlike in more electronically bent Chicago and deep house, presence of acoustic instrumentation is much more common. Notable producers and artists that have worked in this genre include Basement Jaxx, the Freemasons, Soul Central, Armand Van Helden, StoneBridge, Seamus Haji, Moto Blanco, Bag Raiders, Olav Basoski, Uniting Nations, CahillStar PilotsCassius and Mikey High Jinks.
In the 2010s producers such as Secondcity, 99 Souls and Offaiah have had UK hits with the genre. Calvin Harris has also had hits with the genre in the late 2000s and early 2010s with Ready for the Weekend in 2009 and in 2015 Pray To God (with Haim). In 2015 also Jess Glynne had a funky house hit with Don't Be So Hard On Yourself. Clean Bandit had two funky house hits, Stronger in 2015 and Tears (with Louisa Johnson) in 2016. Galantis also had a big funky house hit in the UK with Peanut Butter Jelly in 2015.
The genre is commercially popular, with record labels such as Defected Records, Ministry of Sound, Hed Kandi, and Fierce Angel all releasing compilation albums dedicated to the genre. It was particularly successful in the early and mid 2000s (decade).