UK funky

UK funky (sometimes known as UKF or funky) is a genre of electronic dance music from the United Kingdom that is heavily influenced by deep house, Afrobeat, soca, electro house, broken beat and UK garage. It often gets confused with funky house in America, which is mainly disco and funk oriented.

Typically, UK funky blends beats, bass loops and synths with African and Latin percussion in the dem bow rhythm and contemporary R&B-style vocals.

Characteristics

UK funky uses tempos of around 130bpm and often has a prominent "4 to the floor" kick drum. The drum patterns commonly also include percussion playing African inspired rhythms. Instrumentation varies widely, but drum machines and synthesizers are common. There are similarities to garage in rhythmic, musical and vocal styles. UK funky is highly influenced by the tribal, deep, soulful and bassline house subgenres. Similar genres include Afrobeat, broken beat, electro and garage.

History

US house producers such as Masters At Work, Karizma, Quentin Harris and Dennis Ferrer could be said to have a strong influence over the development of UK funky. Karizma's song "Twyst This" and Dennis Ferrer's remix of Fish Go Deep's "The Cure and the Cause" were important records in the development of the genre and Dennis Ferrer's "Hey Hey" was a massive hit in the scene.