Skweee
Electro · 2008 · 90 to 110 BPM · also known as Scandinavian Funk, Skweee Funk
Scandinavia, 2006 to 2010: a minimal, twisted synthetic funk with round, squelching basses, naive melodies and a hip hop tempo. The name comes from the gesture itself, squeezing every last drop from simple synthesizers. A tiny scene between Stockholm and Helsinki became an instant cult favourite among diggers, with an obvious kinship to wonky and a shared taste for slow, gondoled hip hop tempos.
9 reference tracks
- Eero Johannes: We Could Be Skweeeroes (2008)
- Randy Barracuda: Ghetto Ghouls (2009)
- Mesak: Horrostaja (2010)
- Mesak: Vietti (2010)
- Mesak: Hauta Couture (2010)
- Ivan Senkevich: Rei (2025)
- Eero Johannes: Lipton Service Boy
- Daniel Savio: So Long, Suckaz
- Daniel Savio: Bamboozled
At a glance
- Tempo: 90 to 110 BPM
- First appeared: around 2008
- Machines: Synthétiseur monophonique, Boîte à rythmes
- The sound: Synthés monophoniques pressés, Basses rondes détunées, Boîtes à rythmes sèches, Peu de pistes, beaucoup de jus
- Labels: Harmönia, Flogsta Danshall, Planet Mu
- Key artists: Daniel Savio, Randy Barracuda, Mesak, Eero Johannes
Producing Skweee
Skweee sits slow, 80 to 105 BPM, hip hop tempo, with a marked swing on the sixteenths. It is one of the few styles in the family that leaves so much air between hits, letting the kick and snare breathe while the bass stretches into the space. Use a dry drum machine, kick on one and the and of two in a boom bap pattern, never four on the floor, with a thin, slightly late snare on two and four, swung closed hats with gaps, and only one extra element such as a bell or a filtered percussive hit. Restraint is the rule, four or five bare drum tracks, variation created by muting a hat rather than adding a fill. The bass is round and detuned, a simple monophonic synth playing fifth or octave slides in naive minor keys.
The full production course, in French: tempo, drums, bass, sounds, arrangement, mix, plugins and machines, and a step by step start.
Frequently asked
What is Skweee?
Scandinavia, 2006 to 2010: a minimal, twisted synthetic funk with round, squelching basses, naive melodies and a hip hop tempo. The name comes from the gesture itself, squeezing every last drop from simple synthesizers. A tiny scene between Stockholm and Helsinki became an instant cult favourite…
What tempo is Skweee played at?
Between 90 and 110 BPM.
Who are the key Skweee artists?
Daniel Savio, Randy Barracuda, Mesak, Eero Johannes.
