Craig David

It’s been amazing,’ says Craig David, describing what’s easily been the most surreal year of his young life. ‘I mean, I started off in my bedroom writing some tracks and dreaming of having a record deal. I remember thinking I’d just like to have people hear my songs.’

And then came ‘BORN TO DO IT,’ Craig’s Wildstar/Atlantic Records debut, and the whole world began to listen. With an easy blend of US R&B, pop, hip hop, and British dancefloor styles, the album soars from the autobiographical love-on-trial themes found within the cool flowing melodies of ‘Fill Me In’ to the touching balladry of ‘Walking Away’ and the smooth sex track, ‘Follow Me.’ Throughout, David’s songs paint compelling portraits of a young person experiencing life’s passions while struggling to come to terms with the doubts, pain, and volatility ushered in by adulthood. In the process, Craig David introduces himself as a man utterly of the post-millennial moment – a talented singer, a genuine storyteller, and the consummate master-of-ceremonies at an all-night bacchanal set to his own bpm design.

At age 18, the Southampton, England-based David became the youngest British male to score a #1 hit, when his debut solo single, ‘Fill Me In,’ entered the UK charts in the top spot in March of 2000. His second single, ‘7 Days,’ likewise entered the charts at #1, as did ‘BORN TO DO IT’ upon its summer 2000 issue.

Since then, the gifted singer and songwriter has achieved both global chart-topping success and a bevy of platinum-plus sales awards. To date, ‘BORN TO DO IT’ has sold a remarkable 4 million copies worldwide, including 1.5 million in the UK alone. In addition to its seven international #1s, the album has earned gold, platinum, and multi-platinum certifications in 20 countries around the world, including five-times platinum in the UK; six-times platinum in Ireland; double-platinum in Australia, New Zealand, and Denmark; and platinum in Belgium, Germany, Holland, Norway, and Sweden. David punctuated those achievements last fall by winning three MOBO Awards in London, including Best Newcomer, Best R&B Act, and Best UK Single (for ‘Fill Me In’). This winter, Craig – complete with live band – headlined his first-ever arena tour with a 32-date sold-out trek across the UK, France, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, and Belgium.

In addition to his enormous popularity, the soon-to-be 20-year-old artist has earned voluminous critical raves. NME proclaimed him to be ‘the best thing to happen to British R&B, ever,’ going on to describe his music as ‘modern, inventive… This man is your 21st century, 24-carat, fresh-from-the-rack STAR.’ Q agrees, calling David ‘the century’s first UK pop star.’ Craig has also won kudos from his fellow recording artists, including Usher, Sisqo, and Jennifer Lopez. No less an authority than Sir Elton John recently declared, ‘If there’s a better singer than Craig David in Britain, then I’m Margaret Thatcher.’

Craig David’s childhood was defined by the radio and records that never seemed to quit reverberating within the gritty asphalt climes of his Southampton neighborhood’s government-assisted council houses. ‘Terence Trent d’Arby was like the man of the household when it came to my mom,’ reflects Craig, who remains a proud resident of the neighborhood. ‘I grew up on his music – he was the first concert I ever went to. Through the ‘80s it was the whole Michael Jackson phenomenon and I caught on to that, of course. Stevie Wonder was another I heard all the time. So those are the types of artists I got a lot of my influences from. The great thing about them is they’re all songwriters, all complete artists.’

At 14, David took his own first musical steps, spinning his favorite R&B and hip hop records from the States on the local pirate radio station, PCRS – People’s Choice Radio Station. ‘It was a great learning experience for me, but also a bit daunting,’ recalls Craig, who was also writing his first songs at the time. ‘You always thought the station would be raided and all your records were going to be taken.’

It was during this same period that the eager teenager began to venture out as a club DJ in-training under the guidance of one DJ Flash – a friend of Craig’s musician father and both an experienced hand and someone the parents could trust. ‘Flash allowed me to MC with him,’ David recalls. ‘I started rocking around on his residencies down the South Coast. Eventually, he let me to do a short set of my own.’

A recurring Friday night DJ gig soon followed at the way-happening local club, Juice. ‘They’d always be packed,’ he says. ‘It was a perfect forum for me to do my thing and express myself.’

In 1996, David’s songwriting drew attention when he won a national competition with an original track called ‘I’m Ready.’ By way of first prize, the song was recorded by the R&B quintet Damage and it wasn’t long before Craig found himself as the b/w of the UK’s #3 pop single. It was also ‘I’m Ready’ that brought him to the attention of Mark Hill – well known as half of the pioneering production duo, Artful Dodger.

‘Mark was playing upstairs at Juice and I was playing my stuff downstairs,’ says David . ‘Eventually, he heard about my winning the competition and was like, ‘Craig, man, that’s wicked. Why don’t you come over to my studio?’ It was a perfect chance, because I’d all these catalogues of songs and I’d been wondering when I’d be able to get them down on tape.’

Subsequently teamed at Hill’s recording space, the two found themselves in a shared groove straight away. ‘It was really free, because we weren’t working towards an album of any sort,’ Craig says of those early 1997 sessions. ‘It was kind of like, ‘Let’s just write some songs, man.’ We bounced ideas around – that’s the way that we worked. From that first day forward we kept writing together and we were able to bring two different styles to bear – me with my American R&B and hip hop, and Mark with his two step and garage.’

The David/Hill partnership bore its first fruit in 1999 with the track, ‘Rewind’ – originally credited to Artful Dodger and now included on Atlantic’s ‘BORN TO DO IT.’ The dynamic single served as a sparkling introduction to David’s vocals on its way to becoming a British garage club anthem and bona fide crossover smash, hitting #2 on the UK pop chart. From that point, it didn’t take long before Craig had captured the attention of such modern producer/impresarios as Puff Daddy, Dallas Austin, Kevin ‘She’kspere’ Briggs, and Guru – who paired with Craig on ‘No More,’ a track from his recent all-star ‘VOLUME 3 JAZZMATAZZ STREETSOUL’ album.

In 2000 came the Hill-produced album and Craig’s rise to the top was officially commenced. With ‘BORN TO DO IT,’ Craig David shows himself to be dramatically fulfilling his artistic destiny. In fact, the album title seems to say it all. ‘The album title comes from a line in one of my favorite films, Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory,’ he explains with a laugh. ‘There’s one part where Charlie runs into the candy shop and asks the candy man, ‘How does he do it?’ And the candy man says, ‘Well, do you ask a bird how it flies? Do you ask a fish how it swims?’ And then the candy man says, ‘Well, no sir-ee you don’t. They do it because they were born to do it.’ That makes perfect sense to me – if you’re born to do something, then that’s just what you do. So the title was my way of saying I was born to write and to sing songs – this is what I’ve got to offer.’