Craig David – ‘One More Time’ Record Of The Week (ROTW)
SteveO Chats to Craig David about his new single ‘One More Time’ and how his new music is reaching a new younger audience. He also talks playing his new album getting a release this year and playing football.
Biography
During a period of three years, Craig David transitioned from aspiring songwriter and DJ to major U.K. pop star. When his meringue-smooth, garage-tinged R&B single “Fill Me In” reached the top of the U.K. chart during the summer of 2000, the singer, only 19 years old at the time, became the youngest British male solo artist to achieve the feat. Not only that, but he also achieved mainstream U.S. acceptance and platinum sales in 18 additional countries. Though he did not sustain that level of popularity, David released solid modern R&B albums every few years.
Prior to his breakthrough, David, a native of Southampton, was a local radio jock and later found himself spinning records at clubs, which enabled him to cross paths with some of England’s up-and-coming producers. It was during this time that he hooked up with Artful Dodger’s Mark Hill, but his first real break came when he won a songwriting contest held by the group Damage, who recorded “I’m Ready,” the track he submitted, and released it as a B-side to their 1997 single “Wonderful Tonight.” Two years later, Artful Dodger produced and wrote the mellow yet rhythmically tricky “Rewind,” for which David provided the lead vocal — the release was billed as Artful Dodger Presents Craig David — and the song went to number two on the U.K. pop chart.
Born to Do It The release of David’s first proper solo single, “Fill Me In,” came in April 2000. A collaboration with Hill, the song went to number one and propelled sales of Born to Do It, the debut album issued four months later. A subsequent stateside deal with Atlantic also fostered worldwide sales of well over three million and helped take U.K. garage beyond a national phenomenon (if as a polished, smoothed-out product relative to the style’s beginnings). U.S. superstars Missy Elliott, Beyoncé, and Usher called themselves fans, and that year David won three MOBO (Music of Black Origin) awards, though he was snubbed in each of the six Brit Award categories for which he was nominated. He collected another MOBO in 2001 for Best U.K. Act, and also received three Ivor Novello awards, further recognition of this purple patch of songwriting.
David has 14 UK Top 10 singles, and six UK Top 20 albums, selling over 13 million records worldwide as a solo artist.
He has been nominated for twelve Brit Awards: three times for Best British Male, and twice received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.
Inrterview
Craig David’s Facebook
https://en-gb.facebook.com/CraigDavid/
