Indian Reggae and Ska: 5 Acts to Know

Indian reggae artists to know, from The Ska Vengers and BFR Sound System to Reggae Rajahs, Bombay Bassment and Apache Indian, with a starter playlist.

Key facts

First Indian sound system: Reggae Rajahs, founded in New Delhi after a February 2009 Bob Marley tribute party
Leading ska band: The Ska Vengers, New Delhi; albums The Ska Vengers (2013) and XX (2016)
Glastonbury first: Bombay Bassment were the first Indian hip-hop act to play Glastonbury, in 2016
Hand-built system: BFR Sound System, run by Delhi Sultanate and Begum X, crowdfunded in 2016
Diaspora pioneer: Apache Indian, whose 1993 hit Boom Shack-A-Lak fused dancehall and bhangra

The Indian reggae artists to know are Delhi's The Ska Vengers and their singers Delhi Sultanate and Begum X, who also run the BFR Sound System; Reggae Rajahs, India's first Jamaican-style sound system; and Mumbai's Bombay Bassment, the first Indian hip-hop act to play Glastonbury. Behind them stands Apache Indian, the Birmingham-born Punjabi deejay whose 1990s bhangragga hits first brought reggae and Indian sounds together for a global audience. Indian reggae is less a single band scene than a culture of live bands, selectors and hand-built speaker stacks, concentrated in Delhi, Mumbai and Goa.

This guide covers who they are, what to play first and how the sound-system movement works.

How reggae found a home in India

Reggae arrived in India the way it reached much of the world, through Bob Marley records, then through the British sound-system culture that grew up in cities such as Birmingham and London. For Indian listeners in the 1990s the most direct link was Apache Indian, a British Punjabi who toasted over dancehall rhythms and mixed in bhangra.

The home-grown scene took shape at the end of the 2000s. In February 2009 a Bob Marley tribute party in New Delhi led to the founding of Reggae Rajahs. Around the same time Delhi's The Ska Vengers were building a following for a fierce mix of ska, dub, punk and jazz, and in Mumbai Bombay Bassment were playing hip-hop, Afro and reggae dancehall, in rapper Bob Omulo's words, before it became a thing. Our guide to the Delhi indie scene covers the wider city context that nurtured the first two.

Three terms help when you start exploring:

Ska is the fast, upbeat Jamaican style of the early 1960s that came before reggae, built on off-beat guitar and horns.
Dub is a producer-led remix style that strips songs back to drum and bass and adds echo and reverb.
A sound system is a mobile crew of selectors, MCs and engineers with its own stack of speakers, playing records rather than live instruments.

The essential Indian reggae artists

1. The Ska Vengers

The Ska Vengers are a New Delhi band that blend ska, dub, punk, jazz and rap with experimental styles. The line-up listed on Wikipedia is Stefan "Flexi" Kaye on keyboards, percussion and theremin, Delhi Sultanate and Begum X on vocals, drummer Nikhil Vasudevan, guitarist Chaitanya "Chaz" Bhalla and bassist Tony Guinard.

Their self-titled debut came out in 2013 on Times Music. The first single, "Rough and Mean", took on misogyny in Indian society. During the 2014 general election they released "Modi, a Message to You", an animated reworking of the ska classic "Rudy, a Message to You", and band members received death threats over the video. On 31 July 2015, the anniversary of the hanging of the revolutionary Udham Singh, they released "Frank Brazil", an animated song about his journey to London in 1940 to assassinate Michael O'Dwyer, the former Lieutenant Governor of Punjab.

The second album, XX, pronounced "Double Cross", followed on 1 July 2016 and added Latin, Afro-Cuban, jazz and psychedelic touches on tracks such as "El Cumbanchero" and "Afro Fantasy". The band then played an 18-show UK summer tour in 2016, including Boomtown Fair, Bestival and Notting Hill Carnival, and 38 shows in 2017, among them Glastonbury and WOMAD. In 2012 they also played a widely covered concert at Tihar Jail to raise money for instruments for the prison's music room. The idea came from keyboardist Stefan Kaye, who had once been held at Tihar for overstaying his visa.

Albums: The Ska Vengers (2013), XX (2016)
Start with: Frank Brazil, Rough and Mean, Badda

2. Delhi Sultanate, Begum X and BFR Sound System

The two Ska Vengers singers lead a second life as sound-system operators. Bass Foundation Roots, or BFR Sound System, is owned and run by Delhi Sultanate and Begum X, who also co-founded the collective Word Sound Power. According to Magnetic Fields festival, the system was funded through a crowdfunding campaign in 2016 and is hand-built. The festival describes it as one of only two Jamaican-style systems in South Asia. BFR has been a regular at Magnetic Fields in Rajasthan, where its Midnight Dub Club sessions run overnight dub and reggae sets with guest singers.

Known for: vinyl dub and roots sessions on a hand-built speaker stack
Where to catch them: Magnetic Fields festival and touring dub nights

3. Reggae Rajahs

Reggae Rajahs are a reggae and bass music sound-system crew from New Delhi, described on Wikipedia as the first Jamaican-style sound system in and from India. After a Bob Marley tribute party in February 2009, DJ Mo City met Raghav Dang (Diggy Dang) and Zorawar Shukla (General Zooz), and the three launched the crew. Ziggy B and BeLights joined in 2015.

The crew started the Goa Sunsplash festival in 2016 and has played Pune's Supersonic. They have performed with Snoop Dogg and Major Lazer and shared stages with Apache Indian, Tippa Irie, Dub Inc. and Brother Culture. In 2013 they launched Pressure Drop, a radio show on Mo City's online station boxout.fm, which helped bring bookings in Brazil, Poland and the Philippines. They were nominated for Best International Band or Group at the British Reggae Industry Awards.

Start with: Dancing Mood, General Zooz's Champion (India Refix)
Known for: founding Goa Sunsplash

4. Bombay Bassment

Bombay Bassment began in Mumbai as a bass and drum duo, bassist Ruell Barretto and former drummer Levin Mendes. They added DJ and producer Chandrashekhar Kunder, known as Major C, and rapper Bob Omulo, known as MC Bobkat, and found a fuller sound. The Hindu reported in 2020 that they were the first Indian hip-hop musicians to play Glastonbury, in 2016. Their 2019 club track "Bam Bam (One Love)" is a call for equality built around the chorus "One love, one kind, one mind". Their music is often called feel-good, and Bobkat says growing up in Mumbai meant struggling to find space for anything non-mainstream. More on that city in our guide to the Mumbai indie scene.

Start with: Bam Bam (One Love), Reggae Over India
Known for: reggae, dancehall and hip-hop with socially conscious lyrics

5. Apache Indian

Apache Indian is not from India, but no account of Indian reggae makes sense without him. Born Steven Kapur in 1967 into a Punjabi family, he grew up in Handsworth, Birmingham, home of the reggae band Steel Pulse. He worked with local sound systems in the early 1980s and made his name as a dancehall deejay. His first single, "Movie Over India" (1990), mixed ragga and bhangra and was popular with both audiences. After signing with Island Records in 1992 he released No Reservations (1993), recorded in Jamaica with producers including Bobby Digital and Sly Dunbar, and coined the hybrid known as bhangragga or bhangramuffin. The follow-up, Make Way for the Indian, gave him his biggest hit, "Boom Shack-A-Lak".

Albums: No Reservations (1993), Make Way for the Indian
Start with: Boom Shack-A-Lak, Movie Over India

Where to hear reggae in India

Goa is the natural home of reggae parties, and Reggae Rajahs founded Goa Sunsplash there in 2016. See our Goa music scene guide for venues and seasons. Magnetic Fields in Rajasthan regularly books BFR Sound System's overnight dub sessions. In Delhi and Mumbai, follow the Ska Vengers, Reggae Rajahs and Bombay Bassment on social media for club nights, because most Indian reggae happens at one-off parties rather than dedicated venues.

A starter Indian reggae playlist

Frank Brazil by The Ska Vengers
Rough and Mean by The Ska Vengers
Badda by The Ska Vengers
Bam Bam (One Love) by Bombay Bassment
Reggae Over India by Bombay Bassment
Dancing Mood by Reggae Rajahs
Boom Shack-A-Lak by Apache Indian

FAQ

Who is the most famous Indian reggae artist?

Internationally, Apache Indian, a British Punjabi deejay, is the best-known reggae artist of Indian origin. Within India, The Ska Vengers and Reggae Rajahs are the leading names.

Which is India's first reggae sound system?

Reggae Rajahs, launched in New Delhi in 2009 by DJ Mo City, Diggy Dang and General Zooz, are recognised as India's first Jamaican-style sound system.

Is there a reggae festival in India?

Yes. Reggae Rajahs started the Goa Sunsplash festival in 2016, and Magnetic Fields in Rajasthan regularly hosts BFR Sound System's overnight dub sessions.

What are some Indian reggae songs?

Good starting points are Frank Brazil and Rough and Mean by The Ska Vengers, Bam Bam (One Love) by Bombay Bassment, and Boom Shack-A-Lak by Apache Indian.