Apache Indian, aka Steven Kapur, grew up in Handsworth, home of reggae bands such as Steel Pulse, and by the early 1980s he was working with local sound systems and wearing dreadlocks. By the mid-1980s he had trimmed his hair and began to make a name for himself as a dancehall deejay, and he recorded his first single in 1990, "Movie Over India", initially a white-label pressing, until it was picked up by the reggae distributor Jet Star. The single mixed ragga and bhangra and was hugely popular among audiences of both genres. Two further singles followed in a similar vein, "Chok There" and "Don Raja", bringing him to the attention of the major labels, and in 1992 he signed a recording contract with Island Records.

With the collaboration of his cousins Simon & Diamond now referred to as Dj Swami, he introduced the new hybrid sound of bhangra raggamuffin - also known as bhangramuffin - to the world with his first album No Reservations, recorded in Jamaica and produced by Simon & Diamond, Phil Chill, Robert Livingston, Bobby Digital and Sly Dunbar) in 1993. It was followed by Make Way for the Indian, (produced by Sly & Robbie, The Press, Mafia & Fluxy, Pandit Dinesh and Chris Lane), which featured rapper Tim Dog and spawned the hit, "Boom Shack-A-Lak". By 1997 he had been dropped by Island and his next album,[2] Real People / Wild East (produced by Harjinder Boparai) proved to be his most experimental album, and also featured more Indian elements than the other albums. In his heyday, he also made an appearance in the Tamil film, Love Birds, dancing alongside Prabhu Deva.

Credit: Wikipedia

Review of Time for Change
Courtesy of Vanguard-Online.co.uk

Best known for the decidedly throwaway ‘Boom Shack a Lak’, it seemed Apache Indian had completely disappeared after his brief dalliance with fame twelve years ago. Not so, for he’s now returned with this perky collection of Eastern-tinged reggae.

Warming up with a rendition of Desmond Dekker’s ‘The Israelites’, Apache indulges in some nifty rapping but, otherwise, stays faithful to the original, with Dekker himself providing an authoritative stamp. Spirituality is a theme that runs throughout the album with ‘Calling Out To Jah’ and ‘All Religions’ pleading for religious tolerance the world over. ‘I Pray’ may be Apache’s own attempt at a ‘Redemption Song’-style anthem but his vocal style is somewhat mismatched with the minimal acoustic arrangement.

Faring much better are the steamy ‘So Hott!’ and the R’n’B-flavoured ‘Sometimes Love’; tracks that are more than capable of giving Shaggy and Sean Paul a run for their money. Elsewhere, ‘That Girl’ and ‘Acting Shady’ homes in on Apache’s Bhangra roots, proving just as vital an influence to his overall sound as his beloved reggae. The Tsunami charity single, ‘Om Numah Shivaya’, is evidence of Apache’s ongoing activism, not to mention the sleeve endorsements for Oxfam and Womad.

Boasting a running time of eighty minutes, ‘Time For Change’ could have benefited from being half an hour shorter, for want of a snappier set, but, on the whole, it’s a refreshingly unpretentious and optimistic set with its heart in the right place.