Asian Underground is a term associated with various British Asian musicians (mostly Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan) who blend elements of Western underground dance music and the traditional Asian music of their home countries in South Asia. The first well-known mention was the compilation album Anokha - Soundz of the Asian Underground released in 1997 and masterminded by Talvin Singh & Sweety Kapoor. It is not a strict musical genre per se, since the specific sounds can vary wildly (from Cornershops' Bollywood-influenced Britpop to Panjabi MCs' bhangra-influenced jungle). Most of these artists are the children or grandchildren of immigrants and have grown up in Western culture, but still have a strong Asian background through their families.

In the 1990s, Asian Underground was considered hip and broke through to the mainstream, with artists such as Apache Indian and Cornershop frequently entering the UK charts, with the former's "Boom Shack-A-Lak" (1993) appearing in many popular movies and the latter topping the charts with "Brimful of Asha" in 1998. The genre and other forms of South Asian music began to influence Europe's pop mainstream as acts like Björk, Bananarama, Erasure, and Siouxsie and the Banshees all released singles or remixes featuring South Asian instrumentation. Subsequently, Talvin Singh won a Mercury Music Prize for his album OK in 1999.

Sam Zaman (born Saifullah Zaman; 1972), recording as State of Bengal, is a British DJ and Music producer associated with the U.K. and Asian Underground movement.

Sam Zaman is of Bangladesh descent, he was born in Karachi and lived in Ankara, Amman, and Dhaka before arriving in London at the age of eight. Zaman set up the “State of Bengal” group in London after a visit to Noakhali, Bangladesh in 1987, where he interacted with traditional folk musicians and dancers. Original members of the group included his brother Deedar Zaman (later associated with the Asian Dub Foundation), and MC Mustaq (lead rapper for Fun-Da-Mental). Outside of the State of Bengal project, Zaman also worked with British Asian youth groups, setting up music training workshops.

State of Bengal was a DJ at the in fluential Anokha club in London’s East End during the mid-1990s. His tracks “Flight IC408” and “Chittagong Chill” - written and produced with Matt Mars - were featured on Anokha Soundz of the Asian Underground compilation, and helped him gain prominence. Singer Björk discovered his work at Anokha; he opened with the homeogenic world tour, and remix her track “Hunter” after hearing the original “Hunter” by State of Bengal in September 1996, thereby signing to the One Little Indian record label.

Talvin Singh Matharoo (Punjabi: ਤਲਵੀਨ ਸਿੰਘ ਮਠਾਰੂ) (born 1970 in London, England), is a producer and composer and tabla player, known for creating an innovative fusion of Indian classical music and drum and bass. Singh is generally considered involved with an electronica sub genre called Asian Underground, and more recently as Indian and/or Asian electronica.

After collaborating with Siouxsie and the Banshees and Björk in the early 1990s, Singh released his debut album Ok which received the Mercury Music Prize in 1999.

Singh has since collaborated with a variety of acts including Madonna and Massive Attack.

Singh grew up in Leytonstone and began playing the tablas as a child. At the age of 16, Singh went to India for two years where he studied tabla under Pandit Lashman Singh. He then returned to the UK after just one year. In spite of this classical training, Singh's tabla playing was not accepted by British promoters of classical Indian music, as he incorporated too strongly his western influences. By the late 1980s, Singh had decided to turn towards the fusion of sounds. In 1991, he came to prominence by both playing tabla and singing on the "Kiss Them for Me" single by Siouxsie and the Banshees : the single peaked in the Billboard Hot 100 at number 23. Singh then became the sixth member of the Banshees and took part with them as second headliners of the inaugural Lollapalooza tour. Two years later in 1993, he was recruited by Björk to be her percussionist and director on her 1993's Debut album.

Asian Dub Foundation are a British electronica band that plays a mix of rapcore, dub, dancehall and ragga, also using rock instruments, acknowledging a punk influence. Their distinctive sound also combines indo-dub basslines, searing sitar-inspired guitars and ‘traditional’ sounds, shot through with fast-chat conscious lyrics.

Asian Dub Foundation is better described as a group that arose from a community rap organisation. The different forms of music include toasting, dub, funky guitars and many other African instrumentals. One of their most influential tracks is named Strong Culture which gives the listener an idea of the Asian culture. "Their distinctive sound is a combination of hard ragga-jungle rhythms, indo-dub basslines, searing sitar-inspired guitars and 'traditional' sounds gleaned from their parents' record collections, shot through with fast-chat conscious lyrics".

Sanjay Gulabhai Tailor, Aka Sun-J, joined the band as live midi/programmer and DJ soon after. This completed the full live line-up of the band. After earning a reputation as formidable live performers, the band — which now included dancer Bubble-E — won widespread acclaim for the 1995 single "Rebel Warrior". Their second album Rafi's Revenge was nominated for a Mercury Prize combining a unique combination of punk energy with a jungle/reggae core. The single, 'Naxalite' was an ode to the militant Naxalite movement in India. Tours to the United States with the Beastie Boys and Japan followed to wide acclaim.^{[citation needed]} Their following album, Community Music, developed their sound further and received a coveted 10/10 review in NME.

Michael Kelland John Hutchence (22 January 1960 – 22 November 1997) was an Australian musician and actor. He was a founding member and the lead singer and songwriter of rock band INXS from 1977 to his death in 1997. Hutchence was a member of short-lived pop rock group Max Q and recorded solo material which was released posthumously. He acted in feature films, including Dogs in Space (1986) and Frankenstein Unbound (1990). According to rock music historian, Ian McFarlane, "Hutchence was the archetypal rock showman. He exuded an overtly sexual, macho cool with his flowing locks, and lithe and exuberant stage movements". Hutchence won the 'Best International Artist' at the 1991 BRIT Awards with INXS winning the related group award.

His private life was often reported in the Australian and international press, with a string of love affairs with prominent actresses, models and singers. Hutchence's relationship with UK television presenter Paula Yates began while she was still married to music artist and Live Aid organiser, Bob Geldof. Hutchence and Yates had a daughter in 1996 just after she had divorced Geldof. Hutchence's death in 1997 was determined by the New South Wales Coroner to be the result of suicide – the finding was disputed by Yates, Hutchence's family and his fans. In 2000, Yates died of a heroin overdose and their daughter was placed in Geldof's custody with her half-sisters.