Words by Jesse Serwer—
Remember Apache Indian? No? The British-born East Indian deejay rose from obscurity in 1993 with the international crossover hit “Boom-Shack-A-Lack,” an over-the-top spin on the bombastic dancehall style of Shaggy and SuperCat. (You may recall it as the title music from Jim Carrey’s Dumb and Dumber).
The “Don Raja” hasn’t been heard from much on U.S. shores in recent years, but his status as the Desi world’s best known practitioner of reggae and dancehall remains intact. Leave it up to our friend and LargeUp contributor DJ Rekha (an expert on the fusion of Desi culture and dancehall) to bring Apache back to the U.S. for his first appearance here in years. This Wednesday night, Nov. 21—Thanksgiving eve—Apache will appear in the flesh Rekha’s world-famous Basement Bhangra party, at SOBs in NYC. Get your tickets here, and more info about the show here.
But wait, there’s more. This Sunday, Rekha and Apache will participate in a “Dancehall, Diaspora, Desi Music” discussion at the Queens Museum of Art. Part of the Caribbean: Crossroads of the World series at the museum, the free panel is moderated by ethnomusicologist (and also LargeUp contributor) Wayne Marshall. For an idea of what they might be discussing, check out Rekha’s “Toppa Top 10 Dancehall Songs To Ram a Desi Dancefloor.”
