Asian Dub Foundation (ADF) is an English

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

band that combines musical styles including

rap rock Rap rock is a music genre that developed from the early to mid-1980s, when hip hop DJs incorporated rock records into their routines and rappers began incorporating original and sampled rock instrumentation into hip hop music. Rap rock is co ...

, dub,

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 ...

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 ...

, ReggaeEDM, and

South Asian music South Asian music comprises a range of prominent musical genres and styles that are unique to the countries in and around the Indian subcontinent. This subregion of Asia includes countries such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, ...

. The group also includes traditional rock instruments such as electric bass and guitar, which acknowledges a

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

influence. Their music is known for its dub-inspired basslines, guitar parts inspired by the traditional Indian instrument the

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in 19th-century India. Khusrau K ...

, and fast rapping.

History

Asian Dub Foundation (ADF) was formed in summer 1993 from an education workshop run by Aniruddha Das (bass, programming) and assisted by John Pandit (mixing) which was attended by rapper Deeder Zaman. This early line-up released the sound-system based ''Conscious'' EP in late 1993 on Nation Records. Guitarist/programmer Steve Chandra Savale was invited to join in early 1994 and ADF became more of a band format. Sanjay Tailor joined the band as live midi/programmer and DJ soon after. This completed the full live line-up of the band and their debut album '' Facts and Fictions'' was released in late 1995, following the single " Rebel Warrior". Initially not widely known in a UK music scene focused on

Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s United Kingdom, British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. Musically, Britpop produced bright, catchy alternative rock, with significant influences from British guitar pop of the 1960s and 1970s. B ...

, the band toured in mainland Europe and gained a substantial following, particularly in France where their French-only release '' R.A.F.I.'' sold 100,000 copies. In early 1997 the band was signed by

London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

. Their British profile was upped considerably by the support of

Primal Scream Primal Scream are a Scottish rock music, rock band originally formed in 1982 in Glasgow by Bobby Gillespie (vocals) and Jim Beattie (musician), Jim Beattie (guitar). The band's current lineup consists of Gillespie, Andrew Innes (guitar), Simon ...

with whom the band began to tour regularly. Their second album '' Rafi's Revenge'' (1998) combined punk energy with a jungle/reggae core and was nominated for a

Mercury Prize The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual Music award, music prize awarded for the best album released by a musical act from the Music of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom or Music of Ireland, Ireland. It was cre ...

. The single "Naxalite" was an ode to the militant

Naxalite Naxalism is the communist ideology of the Naxalites or Naxals, a grouping of political and insurgent groups from India. It is influenced by Maoist political sentiment and ideology. Inspired by Maoism, Charu Majumdar wrote the Historic Eight ...

movement in India. Tours to the United States (with the

Beastie Boys The Beastie Boys were an American Hip-hop, hip hop and Rap rock, rap rock group formed in New York City in 1979. They were composed of Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Mike D, ...

) and Japan followed. Their following album, '' Community Music'', developed their sound further and received a 10/10 review in ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

''. In 2000, ADF played a slot on

Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...

's Pyramid stage. At the end of 2000, Deeder Zaman announced his plans to go solo, his last gig being at Alexandra Palace alongside Primal Scream and

Ian Brown Ian George Brown (born 20 February 1963) is an English musician. He was the lead singer and the only continuous member of the alternative rock band the Stone Roses from their formation in 1983. Following the band's initial split in 1996, he be ...

. Their first project of 2001 was an attempt to create a live re-score of

Mathieu Kassovitz Mathieu Kassovitz () is a French actor, film director, film producer and screenwriter. He has won three César Awards: Most Promising Actor for '' See How They Fall'' (1994), and Best Film and Best Editing for '' La Haine'' (1995). He also re ...

's film '' La Haine'' at the

Barbican Centre The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London, England, and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings a ...

's "Only Connect" festival in London. The gig was sold out and received critical praise, particularly from Max Bell and

Steven Wells Steven Wells (10 May 1960 – 24 June 2009) was a British journalist, author, comedian and punk poet born in Swindon, Wiltshire. He was best known for ranting poetry and his provocative, unapologetic music journalism. In June 2006, he wrote in ...

. They did the piece again by invitation of

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

at his South Bank Meltdown Festival in 2002; in attendance was Kassovitz. The band went to Brazil to collaborate with community activist Afro-Reggae with new band members MC Aktarv8tr, Spex MC, Rocky Singh (drums), and Prithpal Rajput (

dhol Dhol () can refer to any one of a number of similar types of double-headed drum widely used, with regional variations, throughout the Indian subcontinent. Its range of distribution in Indian subcontinent primarily includes northern areas such ...

). In 2002, Pandit G was awarded the MBE for "services to the music industry" in relation to his work with ''Community Music''. He declined the award, however, stating: In 2003, they released '' Enemy of the Enemy'', which became their best-selling album and contained the track "Fortress Europe", an attack on European immigration policy, along with "1000 Mirrors", a collaboration with

Sinéad O'Connor Shuhada' Sadaqat (born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor; , ; 8 December 1966 – 26 July 2023) was an Irish singer, songwriter, record producer and activist. Her debut studio album, ''The Lion and the Cobra'', was released in 1987 and achieve ...

about a woman serving life for killing an abusive husband. In 2003, they played their biggest gig in front of 100,000 people in France at a celebration of José Bové, a radical campaigning farmer. For 2005's ''

Tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; ...

'', they were joined by On-U Sound collaborator Ghetto Priest on vocals, with the help of

Adrian Sherwood Adrian Maxwell Sherwood (born 20 January 1958) is an English record producer specialising in the genre of dub music. He has created a distinctive production style based on the application of dub effects and dub mixing techniques to other forms ...

. The band continued performing their ''La Haine'' soundtrack around the world for the next five years. They developed this approach in 2004 with another improvised soundtrack to the film ''

The Battle of Algiers ''The Battle of Algiers'' (; ) is a 1966 Italian-Algerian war film co-written and directed by Gillo Pontecorvo. It is based on action undertaken by rebels during the Algerian War (1954–1962) against the French government in North Africa, the ...

'', first performing the piece at the Brighton Dome. In 2005, they won "Best Underground" at the UK Asian Music Awards. Bassist Dr Das announced his intention to retire in May 2006 to resume teaching and produce his own music. He was replaced by Martin Savale, who also plays bass with British-Asian electro/grunge/hip-hop band

Swami Swami (; ; sometimes abbreviated sw.) in Hinduism is an honorific title given to an Asceticism#Hinduism, ascetic who has chosen the Sannyasa, path of renunciation (''sanyāsa''), or has been initiated into a religious monastic order of Vaishnavas ...

. In September 2006, the dub/punk opera "Gaddafi: A Living Myth", with music by ADF, opened at the

London Coliseum The London Coliseum (also known as the Coliseum Theatre) is a theatre in St Martin's Lane, City of Westminster, Westminster, built as one of London's largest and most luxurious "family" variety theatres. Opened on 24 December 1904 as the Lond ...

. In Spring 2007, Asian Dub Foundation announced the release of a

best of A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

compilation '' Time Freeze: The Best of Asian Dub Foundation'' which included a bonus disc of rare remixes and live tracks, including a live recording of a

Public Enemy Public Enemy is an American Hip-hop, hip hop group formed in Roosevelt, New York, in 1985 by Chuck D and Flavor Flav. The group rose to prominence for their political messages including subjects such as Racism in the United States, American r ...

song featuring

Chuck D Carlton Douglas Ridenhour (born August 1, 1960), known professionally as Chuck D, is an American rapper, best known as the leader and frontman of the hip hop group Public Enemy, which he co-founded in 1985 with Flavor Flav. Chuck D is also a me ...

. The album also featured a new track recorded with former vocalist Deeder Zaman. In May 2007 ADF performed a radio session and interview on the Bobby and Nihal show on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

where they performed three new tracks: "Climb On", "Superpower" and "S.O.C.A.". In June 2007, they were the only Western act to perform at the Festival of

Gnawa music Gnawa music (Ar. ) is a body of Morocco, Moroccan Religious music, religious songs and rhythms. Emerging in the 16th and 17th centuries, Gnawa music developed through the cultural fusion of West Africans brought to Morocco, notably the Hausa p ...

Essaouira Essaouira ( ; ), known until the 1960s as Mogador (, or ), is a port city in the western Moroccan region of Marrakesh-Safi, on the Atlantic coast. It has 77,966 inhabitants as of 2014. The foundation of the city of Essaouira was the work of t ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

playing to a crowd of 60,000 people and collaborating with traditional Gnawa musicians. In August 2007, Asian Dub Foundation started playing with two new vocalists, Al Rumjen (previously and subsequently with King Prawn) and Aktarv8r, who returned after MC Spex was asked to leave the band due to personal issues. In November/December 2007, Asian Dub Foundation recorded a new album, '' Punkara''. It was released in March 2008 and followed by a tour of Europe and Japan. In 2009, ADF contributed to the Indigenous Resistance project after having met up with the Atenco movement in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. Asian Dub Foundation started work on their new album, provisionally entitled ''A New London Eye'', which would feature Ministry of Dhol, Nathan "Flutebox" Lee, Chi 2 and Skrein. The album eventually came out as ''The History of Now'' and the band toured extensively to promote it. The cover contained many fantasy iPhone "Apps" intended to parody the contemporary age. In May 2012, the band was asked by immersive pop-up subversives Secret Cinema to revive their live soundtrack to ''La Haine'' at

Broadwater Farm Broadwater Farm, often referred to simply as "The Farm", is an area in Tottenham, North London, straddling the River Moselle (London), River Moselle. The eastern half of the area is dominated by the Broadwater Farm Housing estate, Estate ("BWFE") ...

and also performed the piece in Paris the night of the French elections. Later that year ADF were rejoined by Dr. Das, Ghetto Priest and Rocky Singh. They recorded a new album, '' The Signal and the Noise'', and headlined a series of festivals including "Bearded Theory" and "Asigiri Jam" in Japan. In 2013, ''The Signal and the Noise'' was released only in Japan. In 2014, the band debuted their live soundtrack to ''

THX 1138 ''THX 1138'' is a 1971 American social science fiction film co-written and directed by George Lucas in his feature directorial debut. Produced by Francis Ford Coppola and co-written by Walter Murch, the film stars Robert Duvall and Donald Pl ...

'',

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker and philanthropist. He created the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founded Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairman ...

's first feature-length film. George Lucas and his collaborator

Walter Murch Walter Scott Murch (born July 12, 1943) is an American film editor, director, writer and sound designer. His work includes '' THX 1138'', ''Apocalypse Now'', '' The Godfather I'', '' II'', and '' III'', '' American Graffiti'', '' The Conversation ...

gave their blessing to the project and it was performed at the Brooklyn Festival in Prospect Park which led to an Arts Council Sponsored Tour of the UK in 2015. In 2015, ADF released '' More Signal More Noise'' jointly between Believe Records their own ADF Communications imprint. The album was a re-recorded version of the 2013 Japan only release. They were joined in early 2015 by ex-

The Prodigy The Prodigy are an English electronic music band formed in Braintree, Essex, in 1990 by producer, keyboardist, and songwriter Liam Howlett. The original line-up also featured Rapping, MC and vocalist Maxim (musician), Maxim, dancer and occasi ...

drummer Brian Fairbairn and toured Italy with a revived version of their ''La Haine'' soundtrack. They recorded a BBC Radio 6 session for

Tom Robinson Living people Thomas Giles Robinson (born 1 June 1950) is a British singer, bassist, radio presenter and long-time LGBT rights activist, best known for the hits " Glad to Be Gay", " 2-4-6-8 Motorway", and "Don't Take No for an Answer", with hi ...

in 2015 and played headline slots at WOMAD and

Boomtown A boomtown is a community that undergoes sudden and rapid population and economic growth, or that is started from scratch. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although t ...

festivals in 2016. In June 2017, it was announced that the band is working on an upcoming album, titled ''Access Denied.'' In May 2019, the band released Youth Quake Pt 1, pairing electronica and breakbeats with a speech that teenage Swedish activist

Greta Thunberg Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg (; born 3January 2003) is a Swedish climate activist, climate and political activist initially known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action to climate change mitigation, mitigate the effec ...

gave to the United Nations conference on climate change in 2018, in support of

Extinction Rebellion Extinction Rebellion (abbreviated as XR) is a UK-founded global environmental movement, with the stated aim of using nonviolent civil disobedience to compel government action to avoid tipping points in the climate system, biodiversity loss, and ...

and the urgent struggle for Climate Justice. The band reissued the album ''Rafi's Revenge'' the same year. In April 2020, the band released the video for ''Stealing the Future''. The track was from the album ''Access Denied'' that was released in September of the same year. Collaborators on the album include comedian

Stewart Lee Stewart Graham Lee (born 5 April 1968) is an English comedian. His stand-up routine is characterised by repetition, internal reference, and deadpan delivery. Lee began his career in 1989 and formed the comedy duo Lee and Herring with Richard ...

, Palestinian refugee band 47Soul,

Ana Tijoux Anamaría Tijoux Merino (, ; born 12 June 1977), commonly known by her stage name Ana Tijoux or Anita Tijoux (), is a French-born Chilean musician. Her music contains political and popular themes. She became famous in Latin America as the master ...

and Dub FX.

Campaign for UK singles chart number one

In September 2020, the band released their song with Stewart Lee called "Comin’ Over Here". This track was based on a sketch from the BBC programme Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle, which was a routine about the UKIP politician (and later, party leader) Paul Nuttall. In December 2020, a video for the song was released, which was part of an internet campaign to get the record to number one in time for the chart published by the Official Charts Company on 31 December 2020, thereby making it the 'Brexit Day Number One'. The song debuted at number 65 on the UK Singles Chart and made it to number 1 on the UK Singles Sales Chart.

Discography

UK albums

*'' Facts and Fictions'' (1995) *'' Rafi's Revenge'' (1998) UK #20 (reissued 2019) *'' Community Music'' (2000) UK #20 *'' Enemy of the Enemy'' (2003) *''

'' (2005) *'' Punkara'' (2008) *''A History of Now'' (2011) *'' More Signal More Noise'' (2015) *''Access Denied'' (2020)

Live albums, compilations, alternate mixes

*'' R.A.F.I.'' (1997) (originally only released in France) *''

Conscious Party ''Conscious Party'' is Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers' third album. It was released in 1988. This album became popular with the hits "Tumblin' Down" and "Tomorrow People". It won the Grammy Award for Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album, Best ...

'' (1998) (originally only released in France) *'' Frontline 1993-1997: rarities and remixes'' (2001) *'' Live: Keep Bangin' on the Walls'' (2003) live at

Ancienne Belgique The (''AB'') is a concert hall for contemporary music in Brussels, Belgium. Located in the historic heart of Brussels, it is one of the leading concert venues in Belgium, hosting a wide variety of international and local acts. Some 300,000 pe ...

*'' Time Freeze: The Best of Asian Dub Foundation'' (2007) *'' The Signal and the Noise'' (2013) (originally only released in Japan, basis for More Signal More Noise) *''More Signal More Noise: The Remixes (2015)'' *''Access Denied (2020)

Singles

* 1997: "Naxalite" * 1998: "Free Satpal Ram" - UK #56 * 1998: "Buzzin'" - UK #31 * 1998: "Black White" - UK #52 * 2000: "Real Great Britain" - UK #41 * 2000: "New Way, New Life" - UK #49 * 2003: "Fortress Europe" - UK #57 * 2003: "1000 Mirrors" (feat.

) * 12/10/2010: "A History of Now" * 2015: "Zig Zag Nation" * 2015: "The Signal and the Noise" * 2015: "Stand Up" * 2020: "Comin' Over Here" - UK #65

DVDs

*''Asian Dub Foundation Live'' (DVD) (2003)

References

External links

Official website
*
"Rappers with a cause"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 24 January 2003
Discography at Discogs
{{authority control English electronic music groups Electronic music groups from London Asian Underground musicians Desi musical groups Nation Records artists Sound systems FFRR Records artists Slash Records artists On-U Sound Records artists British political music groups British dub musical groups Naïve Records artists Cooking Vinyl artists Big beat groups English electronic rock musical groups British Asian musical groups