Available on: Hyperdub 12″

‘Natty’

‘Ganja’

The great thing about the Funky phenomenon is that it’s encouraged producers and DJs from other scenes to experiment with house music for the first time. And broken rules are a fertile soil for fresh ideas.

Take Scratcha DVA’s debut double-header for Hyperdub. Known originally for his grime beats and as the sparky host of Rinse FM’s breakfast radio show, his take on funky is house turned inside out. ‘Natty’ is a lolloping, percussive elephant ride, a slow slope through tropical vegetation underpinned by buzzing funk synths. It’s so warped that to even call it funky house would be a misnomer. No, this is something else altogether.

Better, though less experimental, is ‘Ganja’ which follows a 4/4 pulse more closely, adding a weird key lick, cascading astral FX, echoey house stabs ‘n’ claps, and “ganjaman” vocal samples. A versatile dancefloor weapon that recalls South Africa’s kwaito as much as it does sounds more readily associated with London and Europe, Scratcha’s splicing of the house genome is taking the genre into brave new territories.

Ben Murphy