Apache Indian (musician)

Born into a family of Punjabi Indians, 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 dancehall deejay. 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]

With the collaboration of his cousins Simon & Diamond, Kapur introduced a new hybrid sound of bhangra called bhangragga, or bhangramuffin, with his 1993 debut album, No Reservations, recorded in Jamaica and produced by Simon & Diamond, Phil Chill, Robert Livingston, Bobby Digital, and Sly Dunbar.^[3] This 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 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 by Warner Bros. Sweden.^{[citation needed]}

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.

In 2018, Kapur co-hosted the Brit Asia TV Music Awards with Preeya Kalidas.^[5]

Kapur performed during the closing ceremony for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.^[6]

In November 2013, Kapur opened the Apache Indian Music Academy at South and City College, in his hometown of Handsworth.^[6]

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. In 2021, he was awarded the British Empire Medal for services to music and young people.^[7]

Apache Indian has sold over 11 million albums worldwide.^[12]