Sweety Kapoor is a music and arts promoter, programmer and creative producer. Born in New Delhi, India, Kapoor moved to London at the age of 4. Kapoor was one of the key people behind the Anokha music nights of the mid 1990s alongside its host Talvin Singh and resident DJ-music producer Sam Zaman aka State of Bengal. Anokha, the weekly Monday night music sessions at the venue Blue Note in London's East End, soon became one of city's influential cultural hot spots, drawing a wide variety of musicians, creative artists, tastemakers, and listeners alike. It was instrumental in the rise of what became known globally as The Asian Underground movement. Dubbed ‘Queen of the Asian Underground’, Kapoor is featured in veteran music journalist Nik Cohn's book Yes We Have No: Adventures in the Other England. Talvin Singh subsequently won the Mercury Music Prize for his solo album OKin 1999, while State of Bengal signed to Bjork's label One Little Indian, and opened for her world tour. In 1998, Kapoor was the first to bring the sounds of the Asian Underground to India. She produced a series of gigs in Mumbai titled Underground Connected, featuring music producer-DJ State of Bengal, often referred to as God-Father of Asian Break Beat, singer Amar, and drummer Marque Gilmore aka Inna.Most, who is credited as being the man responsible for bringing the complex programmed drum n bass sounds into live performances. These pioneering events not only introduced the British Asian underground cultural scene into Mumbai but brought with it global electronic music, fashion and culture trends, thereby animating the fledgling scene in the city by influencing many musicians, DJs, filmmakers, designers and other creative artists. Its wide-reaching influence is recalled even today; drum and bass sounds are heard globally in a variety of genres, not to mention in Bollywood songs as well. Kapoor was also noted for her dress sense in the East End music and cultural circuit. A portrait of Kapoor by Steven Cook and an outfit worn by her were part of the 2004 exhibition The London Look: From Street to Catwalk at The Museum of London, and are now housed as part of its permanent collection under Asian Underground, alongside other pieces from alternative movements including Ms. DYNAMITE, club promoter and performance artist Leigh Bowery and key figures from punk scene. She was also behind bringing BBC Radio One, and its DJ-presenters Nihal and Bobby Friktion into India in a four-city tour, working alongside the British council, with coverage by The Independent newspaper UK. Kapoor lives between London and Mumbai.
Albums
Calcutta Cyber Cafe - Talvin Singh Anokha Soundz of the Asian Underground - compilation Audio-Visual - State of Bengal Star Rising /Nasuret Fetah Ali Khan: compilation remix album on RealWorld Tana Tani - State of Bengal & Paban Das Baul: RealWorld Walking On- State of Bengal & Ananada Shankar: RealWorld
