Future Funk

Future funk is an electronic genre born in 2012 on the internet, emerging directly from vaporwave but oriented towards dance and energy rather than melancholic nostalgia. Where vaporwave slowed down 1980s samples to create an atmosphere of disorientation or consumerist malaise, future funk speeds up those same samples to generate a retro-futuristic euphoria. The genre's pioneers — Macross 82-99 and Saint Pepsi, whose album Hit Vibes (2013) helped popularise the style — draw heavily from 1980s Japanese city pop and 1970s American funk, two musics associated with an optimistic, hedonistic vision of modernity.

Musically, future funk is characterised by pitch-shifted, accelerated samples running at 115–130 BPM, prominent funk basslines, filters and effects borrowed from French house à la Daft Punk, and a production saturated with colour — visually, the genre is associated with characteristic magenta and cyan neons. Unlike the more minimalist alternative dance, future funk embraces excess and kitsch as legitimate aesthetic virtues. It shares kinship with bass music in its relationship to manipulated samples, but distinguishes itself through a deliberately festive and colourful atmosphere.

The future funk scene remains primarily rooted in the digital underground — streaming platforms, YouTube, and SoundCloud — although it is increasingly finding a place on electronic festival stages. Sunsquabi is the most active artist on the festival circuit in this vein, with a live approach blending funk, jam, and electronics in a spirit closely related to future funk. The genre continues to influence numerous contemporary electronic producers, particularly in the revival of city pop aesthetics.

FestT lists 4 festivals where future funk is represented, often within eclectic electronic festival contexts that celebrate the creativity of web-born producers. Also explore alternative dance festival programmes to continue your journey through experimental dance music.