Funky house is a subgenre of House that originated around the mid-1990s. The genre kept many of the "classic", original features of house music in contrast to other, distant offshoots that had already developed by then, embracing influences and samples from Funk, Disco and Soul. It has its roots in both Chicago House and Garage House, as well as Deep House to some extent, with its artists developing certain looping techniques of funk/disco samples at the turn of the 1990s. This style would be known as "disco house" and is often used synonymously with the genre. Nonetheless, the term funky house would usually be associated with the later offshoot mainly characterized by warm, catchy basslines and techniques like side-chaining and filtering, which achieve the effects of "swooshes" and "swirls", resulting in a more upbeat, bouncy, and pacy groove in contrast to its predecessors, while having a moderately-fast tempo around 120-130 BPM.
Funky house was first pioneered by American artists including Todd Terry, Mateo & Matos, Glenn Underground and especially DJ Sneak, with releases like Funkadelikrelic. "The Bomb! (These Sounds Fall Into My Mind)" and "Disco's Revenge" were some of the first big hits of the genre. Funky house quickly spread to Europe thanks to DJs such as Germany's DJ Tonka, British duo Basement Jaxx, and especially French artists like Thomas Bangalter, who would develop an offshoot emphasising signature low pass filtering and even more prominent basslines, which would become known as French House.
The late 1990s marked the beginning of funky house's massive popularity, exemplified by successful hits such as "U Don't Know Me", "Don't Call Me Baby", and "Lady (Hear Me Tonight)". Labels including Defected, Spinnin', Positiva, Hed Kandi, and Ministry of Sound began to release the genre in large amounts, along with producers such as Armand Van Helden, Dennis Christopher, Freemasons, Mark Simmons, and Olav Basoski. Dance-Pop singers such as Kylie Minogue and Sophie Ellis-Bextor were also attracted to the genre, performing on many funky house instrumentals, with the genre playing a role in the 2000s wave of Europop.
Funky house continued its big success till the mid-2000s, with "Lola's Theme" and "The Weekend" becoming other popular tracks. The genre started to decline in the second half of the decade, due to more restrictive sampling rights, as well as the rise of Electro House, often building on funky house (and especially french house) foundation by their former producers. Nonetheless, it remained a mainstay in the house scene, with tons of active artists like Block & Crown, Wh0, and Earth n Days as well as labels, particularly PornoStar and Tactical Records. The genre even still manages to score occasional mainstream hits, such as "Barbra Streisand", "Peanut Butter Jelly", and "Rasputin".
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