Steven Kapur (born 11 May 1967), known by the stage name Apache Indian, is a British singer-songwriter and

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

DJ. He had a series of hits during the 1990s. He is best known in the UK for the song " Boom Shack-A-Lak", which reached the top ten during August 1993.

Biography and career

Born into a family of Punjabi Indian origins, Kapur was raised in Handsworth, Birmingham, UK, a racially mixed area with large

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

and Asian communities, home of reggae bands such as

Steel Pulse Steel Pulse are a roots reggae band from the Handsworth area of Birmingham, England. They originally formed at Handsworth Wood Boys School, and were composed of David Hinds (lead vocals, guitar), Basil Gabbidon (lead guitar, vocals), and Ro ...

, and by the early 1980s he was working with local

sound systems Sound system may refer to: Technology media * Sound reinforcement system, a system for amplifying audio for an audience * High fidelity, a sound system intended for accurate reproduction of music in the home * Public address system, an institution ...

and grew dreadlocks. By the mid-1980s he had trimmed his hair and began to make a name for himself as a

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots reggae, roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2 ...

deejay. Apache recorded his first single in 1990, "Movie Over India", initially a white-label pressing, until it was picked up by the reggae distributor Jet Star. The single mixed

ragga Raggamuffin music (or simply ragga) is a subgenre of dancehall and reggae music. The instrumentals primarily consist of electronic music with heavy use of sampling. Wayne Smith's " Under Mi Sleng Teng", produced by King Jammy in 1985 on a ...

and bhangra sounds and was hugely popular among audiences of both genres. Two further singles followed in a similar vein, "Chok There" and "Don Raja", bringing him to the attention of the major labels, and in 1992 he signed a recording contract with

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...

. With the collaboration of his cousins Simon & Diamond, he introduced the new hybrid sound of bhangra raggamuffin – also known as bhangramuffin – to the world with his first album '' No Reservations'', recorded in

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

and produced by Simon & Diamond, Phil Chill, Robert Livingston, Bobby Digital and

Sly Dunbar Lowell Fillmore "Sly" Dunbar (born 10 May 1952, Kingston, Jamaica) is a Jamaican drummer, best known as one half of the prolific Jamaican rhythm section and reggae production duo Sly and Robbie. Biography Dunbar began playing at 15 in a ba ...

in 1993. It was followed by '' Make Way for the Indian'' (produced by Sly & Robbie, The Press, Mafia & Fluxy, Pandit Dineysh and Chris Lane), which featured rapper

Tim Dog Timothy J. Blair (January 3, 1967 – February 14, 2013),Margaret Eby"Rapper Tim Dog slapped with arrest warrant on suspicion of faking own death,"''New York Daily News'', May 22, 2013. better known by his stage name Tim Dog, was an American rap ...

and spawned the hit " Boom Shack-A-Lak". By 1997 he parted ways with Island and his next album, "Real People" (produced by Harjinder Boparai) was signed and released by Warner Bros. Sweden and proved to be his most experimental album, and also featured more Indian elements than the other albums. By 2000, Apache had parted ways with Warner; he later signed to US management company Sunset Entertainment Group, which would lead later on in 2013 for Apache to collaborate on an album with hit producers Jim Beanz & Charlie Hype (both also signed to Sunset Entertainment Group). Lyrically, Apache Indian usually sings in

Jamaican Patois Jamaican Patois (; locally rendered Patwah and called Jamaican Creole by linguists) is an English-based creole language with influences from West African, Arawak, Spanish and other languages, spoken primarily in Jamaica and among the Jamaican ...

. He has written songs about serious topics, such as "Arranged Marriage", "Aids Warning", and "Election Crisis". as well as lighter songs such as "Boom Shack-A-Lak", "Jump Up", "Girls Dem Fiyah", and "Celebrate". Apache Indian has recorded with Wreckx 'n' Effect, the United States

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can repres ...

topper

Sean Paul Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques (born 9 January 1973) is a Jamaican dancehall musician. Paul's first album, ''Stage One'', was released in 2000. He gained international fame with his second album, ''Dutty Rock'', in 2002. Its single "Get Busy ...

Maxi Priest Max Alfred Elliott (born 10 June 1961), known by his stage name Maxi Priest, is a British reggae vocalist of Jamaican descent. He is best known for singing reggae music with an Contemporary R&B, R&B influence, otherwise known as reggae fusion. ...

, General Levy, Brian and Tony Gold, Frankie Paul, Shaggy, Yami Bolo,

Boy George George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer-songwriter and DJ who rose to fame as the lead singer of the pop band Culture Club. He began his solo career in 1987. Boy George grew up in Eltham a ...

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinem ...

Bappi Lahiri Bappi Aparesh Lahiri (born Alokesh Aparesh Lahiri; 27 November 1952 – 15 February 2022), also known as Bappi Da, was an Indian singer, composer and record producer. He popularised the use of synthesised disco music in Indian music industry and ...

, Sameera Singh,

Asha Bhosle Asha Bhosle (; ; born 8 September 1933) is an Indian playback singer, entrepreneur, actress and television personality who predominantly works in Indian cinema. Known for her versatility, she has been described in the media as one of the ...

and Pras of the

Fugees The Fugees () are an American hip hop group formed in South Orange, New Jersey, in 1990. The trio of Wyclef Jean, Pras Michel, and Lauryn Hill was known for their fusion of hip hop, reggae, R&B, and funk; their socially conscious lyrics; and ...

, Malkit Singh, and with Jazzy B on the album ''Dil Luteya'', StereoNation, Sasi the Don, Bally Sagoo, Raghav, and Jim Beanz. He also was a playback singer for the soundtrack of Iddarammayilatho. "Boom Shack-A-Lak" was featured in an

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advertisement, starring

Jennifer Aniston Jennifer Joanna Aniston (born February 11, 1969) is an American actress. She rose to international fame for her role as Rachel Green on the television sitcom ''Friends'' from 1994 to 2004, which earned her Primetime Emmy, Golden Globe, and Scr ...

. The song was also featured in movies, including ''

Threesome In human sexuality, a threesome is "a sexual interaction between three people whereby at least one engages in physical sexual behaviour with both the other individuals". While the term ''threesome'' typically refers to sexual activity involvin ...

'' (1994), ''

Dumb and Dumber ''Dumb and Dumber'' is a 1994 American buddy comedy film directed by Peter Farrelly, who cowrote the screenplay with Bobby Farrelly and Bennett Yellin. It is the first installment in the ''Dumb and Dumber'' franchise. Starring Jim Carrey and ...

'' (also 1994), ''

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'' (1996), '' Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed'' (2004), ''

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'' (2014), '' Babes'' (2024) and '' That Christmas'' (also 2024). In 2018, he co-hosted the Brit Asia TV Music Awards with Preeya Kalidas. His single "Om Namaha Shivaya" is on the

Putumayo World Music Putumayo World Music is a New Orleans-based record label that specializes in compilations of world music, jazz and blues. History Dan Storper founded Putumayo in 1975 as a retail store in New York City featuring handicrafts from around the wor ...

compilation album, ''World Reggae'' which is a collection of reggae tracks performed by artists from around the world. Apache Indian was nominated for a

Ivor Novello Award The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the Welsh entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and Musical composition, composing. They have been presented annually in London by the The Ivors Academy, Ivors Academy, formerly called the Britis ...

for best contemporary song for "Arranged Marriage", and nominated for a Mercury Music Prize for his debut album ''No Reservations'' in 1993. Apache Indian was also nominated for the Central Britain Media and Arts Asian Jewel Award in 2004. Apache was presented an award at the Asian Media Awards in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

UK for his talk show ''Real Talk'' (featured on Brit Asia TV) in 2013 and in 2014 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award also at the Asian Media Awards. In late 2014, Apache received a lifetime achievement award from Brit Asia TV. Apache Indian did a limited release of his album ''It Is What It Is'' in late 2013 on Universal India. The album's first single "Celebrate" was a collaboration with Canadian pop singer Raghav and producer Jim Beanz. The album was written and recorded in Philadelphia at the Sunset Entertainment Group headquarters, featuring production from Jim Beanz, Charlie Hype, TroyBoi and J.Nick. He was awarded the

British Empire Medal The British Empire Medal (BEM; formerly British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British and Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Monarchy of the United Ki ...

(BEM) in the

2021 New Year Honours The 2021 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

for services to music and young people and performed at the

closing ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly constructed location or the start of an event.

for the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England betw ...

in his hometown of Birmingham.

Apache Indian Music Academy

In November 2013, Apache Indian opened the Apache Indian Music Academy at South and City College, in his hometown of Handsworth.

Awards

*Best Newcomer British Reggae Industry Awards 1990 * UK Asian Music Awards – Best International Success 2003 * UK Asian Music Awards – Outstanding Achievement 2005 * UK Asian Music Awards – Lifetime Achievement Award 2011 * Brit Asia TV Music Awards - Lifetime Achievement Award 2014

Discography

Apache Indian has sold over 11 million albums worldwide.

Albums

Singles and EPs

References

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who, Dave Schulps, and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Apache Indian 1967 births Living people Island Records artists English male singers English male songwriters British Asian musicians British rappers of Indian descent English reggae musicians English people of Indian descent English people of Punjabi descent Musicians from Birmingham, West Midlands People from Handsworth, West Midlands+ Recipients of the British Empire Medal British Asian rappers