We take a look at non-electronic artists that made the switch from one genre, to house music.

 
Former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante is releasing a brand new solo album. It’s not an album of California-based funk-rock befitting his old band. Instead, it has been described as “glitchy acid-washed house and electro”. It’s not unusual for musicians from outside of electronic music to switch genres and try their hand at beat-heavy production. Here are four notable attempts.

1. John Frusciante – Trickfinger/Trickfinger II

John Frusciante was topping charts and selling out stadiums worldwide after the release of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ 2006 double album Stadium Arcadium. He jumped ship a few years later and began to get to grips with producing and recording acid house. “I had lost interest in traditional songwriting and I was excited about finding new methods for creating music,” he wrote on his blog.

The resulting album, released under the alias Trickfinger, is the result of this experiment. Recorded using only a cheap mixer and sequenced analogue synthesizers, Trickfinger is acid house in the old school vein. “It was the beginning of a new musical life for me,” said Frusciante. And with Trickfinger II coming soon, that new musical life bears more fruit.

2. David Bowie – Earthling

David Bowie was always known as a ‘chameleon’ for his rogues gallery of personae and evolving sound. With the broad range of genres he turned his hand to (and mostly mastered) it should be no surprise that he once released an album of drum and bass electronica: Earthling.
 

 
Produced by Bowie himself, Earthling tapped into 1990s drum and bass culture, with 160 bpm beats and screeching guitars. Influenced by The Prodigy and Underworld, Bowie and his band recorded drum, saxophone and guitar parts, then sped them up and ‘sampled’ them to create new sounds. The album wasn’t a hit at the time, but it’s since been reassessed as an underrated gem in the Bowie catalogue.

3. Waka Flocka Flame – Turn Up Godz Tour

After establishing himself as one of the trap scene’s leading lights, Waka Flocka Flame began to show an interest in the world of EDM. The rapper turned up as a guest on releases by Borgore, Diplo and Steve Aoki to great success, and in 2015 he released his own EDM-influenced mixtape.

Turn Up Godz Tour doesn’t completely leave trap behind entirely—there are still rattling high hats to be found throughout—but the buildups, drops, and even a lot of the lyrics are EDM all the way. The rapper took the connection further by touring Turn Up Godz Tour with DJ Whoo Kid.

4. Jennifer Hudson – It’s Your World/Go All Night

With some of the most powerful vocal cords in R&B, Jennifer Hudson was always going to pull of the transition to house vocalist with ease. We’re yet to see a full album from this transition, but the singer has certainly made headway exploring the territory with two 2014 singles.
 

 
Hudson took up the role of featured vocalist on English production duo Gorgon City’s ‘Go All Night’. The collaboration was an immediate hit, sailing up the Billboard US Dance Club Songs chart and taking the number one spot.

In the same year, Jennifer Hudson collaborated with legendary Chicago house producer Terry Hunter for the single ‘It’s Your World’ — a smooth, soulful house track that gave Hudson the opportunity to shine on vocals, while Hunter kept the relaxed groove going underneath.

Whether Hudson will return to house music is an open question, but if she does she already has the makings of a strong back catalogue on her hands with her first two forays into the genre.