"Boom Shack-A-Lak" is a song by 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 ...

deejay Apache Indian, released in August 1993 by

Mango 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, anoth ...

and also included on his

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

''Nuff Vibes''. The song was written by Steven Kapur (real name of Apache Indian) and gave him his biggest hit in the United Kingdom, reaching number five on the UK Singles Chart. The single and EP were also released worldwide, reaching the top 10 in both Ireland and the Netherlands while reaching the top 20 in Austria and New Zealand. It was nominated in the category for 12-Inch at the NAIRD 1994 and the music video won an award at the 1994 Black Music Awards.Taylor, Timothy D. (1997) ''Global Pop: World Music, World Markets'', Routledge, , p. 170

Critical reception

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the musi ...

from ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' magazine described the song as "a wacky blend of guttural toasting and retro-pop shuffle beats." He felt the hook "has the potential to take up permanent residence in your brain, while the fun array of sound effects are sure to get those shoulders shakin' out of control." He also encouraged, "Seek it out and give it a whirl." ''

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 ...

'' called it a "cute" hit. Andy Beevers from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' named it Pick of the Week in the category of Dance, declaring it as "a bouncey Shaggy-style party track that is destined to get plenty of summertime radio play." David Quantick from ''

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 ...

'' viewed it as "so jovial and bouncy". Tony Cross from ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand ...

'' gave it a full score of five out of five, naming it Best New Single. He wrote, "Trying not to wind your body down to this is like trying not to chew a Rowntree's fruit pastille. Apache's belly-wriggler is fabber than Shabba and shaggier than Shaggy, and his Brummy

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 ...

muffin beat is a

dance hall Dance hall in its general meaning is a hall for Dance, dancing, but usually refers to a specific type of twentieth-century venue, with dance clubs (nightclubs) becoming more popular towards the end of the century. The palais de danse was a term ap ...

dream come true. Apache invites everybody to join him in one massive

party, putting his Bhangra roots on the back burner for the summer. A great record that will surely mean the big time at last for the Apache..."

Music video

The accompanying music video for "Boom Shack-A-Lak" was directed by British film director, DJ and musician Don Letts and produced by Frank Hilton for Gravity. It was released on 9 August 1993 and includes footage of Apache's hectic Indian tour. The video won the Best Reggae Video award at the 1994 Black Music Awards in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Track listings

* ''Nuff Vibes'' EP # "Boom Shack-A-Lak" (edit) – 3:48 # "Caste System" (edit) – 3:40 # "Warning" – 4:39 # "Fun" – 4:05 * US, French, and Dutch single # "Boom Shack-A-Lak" (edit) – 3:48 # "Boom Shack-A-Lak" (instrumental) – 3:48 # "Boom Shack-A-Lak" – 4:31 # "Warning" – 4:39

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

In popular culture

"Boom Shack-A-Lak" was used in an

Axe An axe (; sometimes spelled ax in American English; American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for thousands of years to shape, split, a ...

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 ...

. Films that used "Boom Shack-A-Lak" included ''

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), ''

Bio-Dome ''Bio-Dome'' is a 1996 American comedy film directed by Jason Bloom. It was produced by Motion Picture Corporation of America on a budget of $8.5 million and was distributed theatrically by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures. The film was inspired ...

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

Dumb and Dumber To ''Dumb and Dumber To'' is a 2014 American buddy comedy film produced, co-written and directed by the Farrelly brothers. It is the third film in the ''Dumb and Dumber'' franchise, and serves as a sequel to the 1994 film '' Dumb and Dumber''. T ...

'' (2014), '' Babes'' (2024) and '' That Christmas'' (also 2024).

References

{{Authority control 1993 songs 1993 singles British dancehall songs Island Records singles Music videos directed by Don Letts Quotations from music 1993 quotations