The inner city predicts House to be the next big urban movement “When Matt Mason left last year as editor of RWD magazine, the UK’s foremost urban publication and one that supported grime even before it was called grime, he delivered a prediction: house would be the next big urban movement. Many people laughed, but they still took note-- you don’t get to be RWD editor without knowing which way the inner city wind is blowing. He qualified his prediction with the statement: "If black youngsters are dancing to funky house in Tottenham, something going on." There has been no denying the existence of this new genre, highlighted by the respected music industry paper Music Week and numerous other articles occurring in many popular music titles and the creation of Choice FM new ‘Urban House’ show presented by Chris Phillips. There is definitely a new music trend for the naughties to identify and embrace. This trend is Urban House. The urban scene is characterised by its R & B, Grime, Garage and Hip Hop Sound, but slowly and surely there has been a steady movement towards House music. So much so that many underground garage DJ’s are creeping House music into their sets. Anything remotely House sounding would have wholeheartedly been rejected by them only a year ago. With major support coming from DJ’s who represent the urban scene such as Steve Sutherland (Galaxy Network), Rampage (1Xtra), Semtex (1xtra) EZ (Kiss) and Heartless Crew, arguably the biggest garage DJ’s in the UK). What is also remarkable about this trend is that is started ‘Up North’ – It wasn’t just the kids in Tottenham who were on the cutting edge of this underground movement, surprisingly it was the kids in the clubs in Leeds and Manchester who were leading the way. Laura Lukanz , Head of Music at BBC 1 Xtra, brings in her own observation ‘This is what I have seen in the northern clubs myself, contrary to popular belief this scene started in the clubs in Leeds and Manchester and has worked over its way down over the last two years’. The opening track of CD1 is Fish Go Deep – the Cure and the Cause. It is this record that is causing all the fuss and exacerbating this whole debate, play listed as the No.1 urban house track on all the play lists of the pirate stations, and urban DJ ‘s a like, it has captured the imagination of the scene and has come to almost represent it. It is not only this record but also DJ Technic – Gabryelle (CD1 track 10), which is another true House record that has affected the scene in the same way. These records were also play listed on Choice FM and a whole host of urban pirate stations who did not traditionally go near this type of music. House really seems to be really blowing up on the urban scene. Part of the reason for this shift seems to be dissatisfaction with the moody vibe at the garage and grime clubs, with clubbers increasingly attracted to the glamour and the safety of the house scene, where the vibe is described as not so oppressive as that of other types of urban music. Also not to be forgotten is because the music is song based it proves to be attractive to girls who love to hear vocals and can dress up for the music they love, where the girls go, the guys quickly follow. The standout tracks that attract the most attention can be found on these two contemporary mixes which include Peven Everett’s – ‘Stuck’, Peven is the new Soul talent from Chicago, ready to make an impact her in the UK. Karisma – ‘God made me funky’, which is a remake of the classic Mike Dunn record with the same title, described as James Brown for the naughties. Also Craig L –‘Mary Don’t Weep’, a producer that is deep rooted in the U.S. R & B scene. All tracks are good examples of the appeal of this new urban sound. It seems that there is the beginning of a new crossover genre that is emerging, we have coined the term Urban House, it’s an amalgamation of garage, R & B and house music and it is potentially a massive movement that will bring new momentum to a scene that has been predicted to be dying by the general media. This compilation is a choice example of the biggest urban house tracks in Clubland.