 | This article has multiple issues. Please helpimprove it or discuss these issues on thetalk page.(Learn how and when to remove these messages) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
|
Apache Indian | |
|---|---|
 Kapur in 2015 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Steven Kapur (1967-05-11)11 May 1967 (age 58) Handsworth, Birmingham, England |
| Genres |
|
| Occupations |
|
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 1980–present |
| Labels | |
Steven Kapur[1]BEM (born 11 May 1967),[2] known by the stage nameApache Indian, is a British singer-songwriter andreggaeDJ, who had a series of hits during the 1990s.[3] He is best known for the 1993 song "Boom Shack-A-Lak".
Born into a family ofPunjabiIndians, Kapur was raised inHandsworth, Birmingham, a racially mixed area with largeBlack andAsian communities, and home of reggae bands such asSteel Pulse.[2] By the early 1980s, he was working with localsound systems and grew dreadlocks.[3] By the mid-1980s, he had begun to make a name for himself as adancehalldeejay. Kapur recorded his first single in 1990, "Movie Over India", under the moniker Apache Indian, and it was picked up by the reggae distributorJet Star.[3] The track mixedragga andbhangra sounds and was popular among audiences of both genres.[3] Two further singles followed in a similar vein, "Chok There" and "Don Raja", bringing him to the attention of major labels, and in 1992, he signed withIsland Records.[3]
With the collaboration of his cousins Simon & Diamond, Kapur introduced a new hybrid sound of bhangra calledbhangragga, or bhangramuffin, with his 1993 debut album,No Reservations, recorded in Jamaica and produced by Simon & Diamond, Phil Chill,Robert Livingston,Bobby Digital, andSly Dunbar.[3] This was followed byMake Way for the Indian (produced bySly & Robbie, the Press,Mafia & Fluxy, Pandit Dineysh, and Chris Lane), which featured rapperTim Dog and spawned the hit "Boom Shack-A-Lak". By 1997, Kapur had parted ways with Island, and his next album,[4]Real People, was released byWarner Bros. Sweden.[citation needed]
His single "Om Namaha Shivaya" is included on the 2004Putumayo World Music compilation albumWorld Reggae, a collection of reggae tracks performed by artists from around the world.
In 2013, he sang a song on the soundtrack of the Indian filmIddarammayilatho. That year, he released the albumIt Is What It Is throughUniversal India. Its first single, "Celebrate", was a collaboration with Canadian pop singerRaghav and producerJim Beanz.
In 2018, Kapur co-hosted theBrit Asia TV Music Awards withPreeya Kalidas.[5]
Kapur performed during theclosing ceremony for the2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.[6]
In November 2013, Kapur opened the Apache Indian Music Academy atSouth and City College, in his hometown ofHandsworth.[citation needed]
 | This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(July 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Apache Indian was nominated for anIvor Novello Award for best contemporary song for "Arranged Marriage" as well as for a Mercury Music Prize for his debut album,No Reservations, in 1993. He was also nominated for the Central Britain Media and Arts Asian Jewel Award in 2004. He received an award at the Asian Media Awards for his talk showReal Talk in 2013, and a year later, he was decorated with the event's Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2021, he was awarded theBritish Empire Medal for services to music and young people.[7]
Apache Indian has sold over 11 million albums worldwide.[12]
| Year | Album | Label | UK [13] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | No Reservations | Island Records | 36 |
| 1995 | Make Way for the Indian | Island/Universal Music | — |
| 1996 | No Problem | Love Birds | — |
| 1997 | Real People / Wild East | Warners Sweden/Sunset Records | — |
| 2000 | Karma | Sunset Records | — |
| 2005 | Time for Change | Explorer Recording Company | — |
| 2007 | Sadhu – The Movement | Smash Records | — |
| 2013 | It Is What It Is | Universal Music India/Sunset Entertainment Group | — |
| 2017 | In Ja... | Sunset/Universal India | — |
| 2018 | On the Weekend | Sunset Entertainment Group | — |
| 2020 | What's Not to Love | — | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | |||
| Year | Album | Certifications |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Nuff Vibes | BPI: Silver[14] |
| 2012 | Home Run | |
| 2016 | Apache Indian |
| Year | Single | Peak positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [15][16] | IRE | NED [17] | BEL (FLA) [18] | GER | AUT [19] | AUS [20] | NZ [21] | ||||
| 1991 | "Movie Over India" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | No Reservations | |
| "Chok There" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1992 | "Don Raja" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Arranged Marriage" | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Fe' Real"(withMaxi Priest) | 33 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Fe Real | ||
| 1993 | "Chok There"(reissue) | 30 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | No Reservations | |
| "Boom Shack-A-Lak" | 5 | 8 | 10 | 24 | 32 | 13 | 34 | 19 | Nuff Vibes | ||
| "Movin' On"(charity single) | 48 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | non-album single | ||
| 1994 | "Wreckx Shop"(withWreckx-n-Effect) | 26 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Hard or Smooth | |
| 1995 | "Make Way for the Indian"(withTim Dog) | 29 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Make Way for the Indian | |
| "Raggamuffin Girl"(withFrankie Paul) | 31 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1997 | "Lovin' (Let Me Love You)" | 53 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Real People | |
| "Real People" | 66 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 2005 | "Om Numah Shivaya"(tsunami charity single) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Time for Change | |
| "The Israelites"(withDesmond Dekker) | — | — | — | — | — | 34 | — | — | |||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released. | |||||||||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
+
