After receiving the single of the week award in the NME magazine for "Smoke the Prophets",[1] they recorded three Peel Sessions,[2] the first of which was broadcast in April 1995.
The Peel session enabled them to secure a recording contract with EXP, which was run by Graham Brown-Martin with A&R by Feargal Sharkey from The Undertones and Richard Norris from The Grid.
Their debut album, Yemen Cutta Connection was released in September 1996, with a press launch on Dartmoor involving Jimmy Cauty and Bill Drummond from The KLF.
[3] After the demise of EXP, Rob Dickens from WEA signed Black Star Liner, and they recorded their second album Bengali Bantam Youth Experience!, which featured the single "Superfly and Bindi".
[7] Labelled as part of the Asian Underground, they worked with Tjinder Singh's Cornershop and are featured in the book, Brimful of Asia.