This article is missing information about the artist's adoption of the moniker Apache Indian. Please expand the article to include this information. Further details may exist on the talk page.(September 2025)
Steven Kapur[1]BEM (born 11 May 1967),[2] known by the stage name Apache Indian, is a British singer-songwriter and reggaeDJ, 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 of PunjabiIndians, Kapur was raised in Handsworth, Birmingham, a racially mixed area with large Black and Asian communities, and home of reggae bands such as Steel Pulse.[2] By the early 1980s, he was working with local sound systems and grew dreadlocks.[3] By the mid-1980s, he had begun to make a name for himself as a dancehalldeejay. Kapur recorded his first single in 1990, "Movie Over India", under the moniker Apache Indian, and it was picked up by the reggae distributor Jet Star.[3] The track mixed ragga and bhangra 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 with Island Records.[3]
His single "Om Namaha Shivaya" is included on the 2004 Putumayo World Music compilation album World 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 film Iddarammayilatho. That year, he released the album It Is What It Is through Universal India. Its first single, "Celebrate", was a collaboration with Canadian pop singer Raghav and producer Jim Beanz.
Apache Indian was nominated for an Ivor 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 show Real Talk in 2013, and a year later, he was decorated with the event's Lifetime Achievement Award. He was awarded the in the for services to music and young people.[7]
Awards
British Reggae Industry Awards – Best Newcomer (1990)[3]
↑ Moskowitz, David V. (2006). Caribbean Popular Music: an Encyclopedia of Reggae, Mento, Ska, Rock Steady, and Dancehall. Greenwood Press. p.14. ISBN0-313-33158-8.
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