This year Pittsburgh's Wiz Khalifa sampled Alice Deejay's Better Off Alone and suddenly everyone in hip hop seemed to be wearing day-glo colours. In England, Funky (House) has edged off Dubstep as the dominant sound on Rinse FM. The signs are all there: urban music is embracing the 4x4 structure, rave aesthetic and tracks at 120 – 140 bpm, and faster. It all varies between the different scenes of course, but let's take a look at some of the more surprising developments.

Bassline

A lot of you will be familiar with the blog hubbub that's accompanied the emergence of two forms of UK dance music: Bassline and Funky. In Northern England, Garage never really made that jump to Grime and Dubstep, but continued to mutate around focal clubs like Niche in Sheffield and turned into Bassline. The genre that emerged enjoyed a brief spell in the sun as the DJ blogs lapped it up. Grime producers like Dexplicit surprised many by creating some of its most distinctive tracks. Right now, scene stalwarts like the Wideboys are back on top. I came across a remix they've just done for Craig David's new track – I know, he's back too – which features the ubiquitous Tinchy Stryder, who we met last month. Unfortunately, I can't find a video for it – so check them performing the OG live at this month's MOBO Awards:

Funky

As for Funky, well people seem to hate the name for a start, and also don't really grasp its significance: “It's just house,” they say. No, no it isn't. Sure, it's a form of house music, but more bassy, percussive, fresh sounding and raw. When Grime promoters were getting turned away from venues across London, funky house emerged from the backroom of Garage clubs to take prominence itself. This was an imported sound though, so it wasn't long before local producers were making tracks to better suit local tastes. Grime artists and audiences were younger; there was a gap in the market for the club going crowds. Grime and Garage producers got to it: Geeneus , Apple, Wookie, Crazy Cousinz and Naughty brought their urban perspective to dance music. The Funky look is about a move away from hats, hoods and trainers to shirts and shoes, a bit more glamorous, a bit more mature. Funky's biggest tune so far is Cousinz's remix of Do you Mind? by Paleface ft. Kyla (apparently one half of the production duo is too young to go to the clubs himself).

Jamaica

Never to be left out of the urban vanguard, the Jamaicans are dancing it up too. With an eye on global developments, Kingston's audiences and production houses are building riddims that David Rodigan is describing as “Jamaican house”. Given that the Jamaican Government cracked down on outdoor dances earlier in the year, I'm wondering if dancehall is moving into the clubs a whole lot more, and whether this is influencing the sound itself.

Check out the 10 lbs of Kush Riddim from leading dancehall stable Don Corleon. The Workout Riddim by [Stephen 'the Genius' McGregor] (http://www.myspace.com/bigshipproduction1) (son of Freddy of Night Nurse fame). Or the Gutterball Riddim from the up and coming Alic & Boyd at an ass jiggling 148bpm!