The evolution of house music in the UK in the late 1990s led to the term being applied to a new form of music also known as Speed Garage or UK Garage. This style is now frequently combined with other forms of music like hip hop, rap and R&B, all broadly filed under the description urban music.

Artists like Shanks & Bigfoot and The Artful Dodger have made Garage music mainstream in the UK, whilst Dizzee Rascal's arrival raised the profile of Grime, an offshoot of Garage. However on the East London underground scene Garage is distinctly different, it has a much more raw sound, placing a greater emphasis on electronic beats and rhythms.

4x4 Garage is a variety of UK garage with drums consisting of a bass drum on each beat in the bar, similar in style to house music.

4x4 garage was the most common form of garage before 2 step garage became more popular. Since the "death" of garage in the mainstream and the increased popularity of grime, 4x4 has once again become the favoured drum pattern for producers of UK garage.

The terms "4x4", "Speed Garage" and "Bassline House" have become interchangeable in today's 4/4 garage scene, although speed garage is often used to falsely identify 2 step or UK garage. Bassline House and 4x4 Beats will sound the same to most people, unless they listen to it often, in which case it is easy to distinguish these two different styles.

Since the turn of the new millennium, this brand of garage has re emerged as a firm favourite with UK clubbers, resulting in the return of the term "raving" among clubbers. A number of new producers, DJ's and nightclubs have also emerged of the back of its success, including DJ Joe Hunt, Danny Bond, Naughty Nick, and Big Ang. Many major clubs such as Air, Moonlounge and Radius have hosted speed garage nights and promotions, while the longstanding champion of the 4x4 garage sound Niche Nightclub from Sheffield (shut down, since reopened) plays speed garage exclusively.