Asian Dub Foundation have long been one of the UK’s most loved and innovative bands, fusing a thrilling combination of punk, rap, breakbeat, dub, dancehall and the South Asian sounds – both traditional and the underground diaspora such as Bhangra – of their roots.
Their story began in 1993 when rapper Deeder Zaman attended an East London musical workshop run by Aniruddha Das and John Pandit. The arrival of former Higher Intelligence Agency guitarist Steve Chandra Savale the following year saw their sound expand and led to the release of their debut EP entitled Conscious.
Their mix of militant activism, conscious lyrics and a live sound that saw critics make favourable comparisons to The Clash, The Prodigy, and Rage Against The Machine, made them one of the most exciting acts around and their debut album, Facts and Fictions was widely applauded upon release in 1995.
Signing to London Records in 1997 gave the band fresh impetus. Their 1998 Mercury Music Prize-nominated second album Rafi’s Revenge and its protest single Free Satpal Ram were hailed by clubbers and politically switched-on listeners alike. Their global fanbase continued to expand as they toured with the likes of Primal Scream and Beastie Boys. Over the course of their illustrious career, they have also collaborated with the likes Radiohead, Iggy Pop and Public Enemy’s Chuck D.
Their 2000 album, Community Music, featuring collaborations with Benjamin Zephaniah and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, is widely recognised as the band’s masterpiece receiving a perfect 10 from NME. In 2002, the band were invited by David Bowie to appear at his Meltdown-curated festival and the following year they worked with Sinead O’Connor on their best-selling album to date, Enemy of the Enemy.
The group remain steadfastly outspoken: their 2020 album, Access Denied, railed against environmental ignorance on the Greta Thunberg sampling single Youth Quake Pt 1 (sampling) and they collaborated with comedian Stewart Lee on the anti-Brexit track Comin’ Over Here.
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