Outsider House

Outsider house is a form of House characterized by its intentional use of rough, lo-fi production, often utilizing a mix of analogue/analogue-like and digital instrumentation. Born in the early 2010s, outsider house has been analyzed as a genre standing in opposition to other 2010s commercialization trends of house music, avoiding the polished production and mixing that have caught on in the mainstream. Though it has mostly been inspired by the soulful, laid-back styles of 1990s and 2000s Deep House, outsider house often re-contextualizes and borrows inspiration from many EDM outside its sphere, including various 1990s Techno genres and other house genres like Ambient House.

Originally coined as "Outsider Dance" in 2012 by producer Ben UFO to refer a collection of artists that shared the same aesthetic and ethos, outsider house combined a number of previously separate and overall distinct scenes. Ron Morelli's Long Island Electrical Systems label, often considered an early main hub for outsider house, began in the early 2010s to release a unique form of lo-fi, 1990s-inspired house music heavily inspired by analogue-based Tech House styles and the rough sound of Industrial Techno. It would later pave the way for producers like Delroy Edwards, Anthony Naples, and Huerco S., who continued to diversify and develop the genre with further influences from atmospheric Dub Techno and Ambient Techno or rougher-sounding Acid Techno and Acid House. LA Vampires's 100% Silk, another important label for outsider house's development, was pushing a more soulful, old deep house and Chicago House-inspired sound. Much of outsider house's development in the 2010s was directly inspired by the 2000s-born Hypnagogic Pop movement, with producers applying its nostalgic approach to old popular music and its hazy, dreamy ambiance, to house music. The Vapor movement's online popularity assisted the growth of the similarly-minded outsider house genre, with many producers or even set-makers borrowing its distinct self-satirizing and consumerism-inspired imagery.

With many newer producers finding success through the YouTube algorithm and promotional channels, often featuring a nostalgic, dreamy aesthetic reminiscent of VHS tapes and other old media outlets, outsider house would enter a new period in the mid-2010s, marked by a new term for a novel style, known as Lo-Fi House. Labels like Lobster Theremin and Coastal Haze and artists such as Mall Grab, DJ Seinfeld, Grant, DJ Boring, Ross From Friends and dj poolboi helped to popularize and develop the style further in the latter half of the 2010s, creating a form of melancholic, mellow and repetitive house music. Lo-fi house productions remained as eclectic as in earlier styles, with artists introducing elements of Disco and Nu-Disco, French House, Progressive House, Funky House, and even Future Garage.