Monday, 6 October, 2003 23:27
Craig David's Southampton |
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| Craig
David |
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Craig
David is one of the most influential of the new generation of British
R'n'B artists.
Chartbusting and award-winning, he is Southampton born and bred. |
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Craig
grew up in central Southampton spending his childhood around the city
centre Holyrood estate.
Although his Mum thought school should come before clubbing, Craig
had other ideas. He endlessly listened to his Mum's collection of
Stevie Wonder, Terence Trent D'Arby and Michael Jackson albums.
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| Craig
was goalkeeper in the Bellemoor School football team. |
Before
too long, Craig was getting into music big time - spending his time
writing lyrics in his notebook, singing into his dictaphone and working
in youth and community clubs as an MC and DJ.
Young Craig went to school at Bellemoor Boys School on Hill Lane.
As well as unsurprisingly excelling at music, he was also goalkeeper
in the school football team.
The pupils currently at the school are justifiably proud of their
famous 'old boy' - the school choir performances now frequently involve
renditions of Craig's hits.
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| Holyrood
Estate where Craig grew up |
It was
clear that along with a huge record collection, Craig had some ideas
to add to the emerging vibrant UK garage scene. He was soon making
his own tapes of mixes and trying to get them heard amongst his friends.
He was soon getting hold of the mic and DJing at clubs around the
city - like Rhino's in Bedford Place. He teamed up with Mark Hill,
from The Artful Dodger and his music began to evolve from the heavy
reggae baselines and +8 accelerated tempos.
"I wouldn't have wanted to grow up anywhere else - it's such
a multi-cultural, cosmopolitan city. And people do get behind each
other and it was great with the music scene with The Artful Dodger
coming out, me able to do my thing, at the same time as having the
saviour of Matthew Le Tissier at Southampton." said Craig.
Their first big hit together was 'Rewind', which became a club favourite
and Craig was soon touring the country. Chart success soon followed
for Craig as a solo performer - 'Fill me In' and '7 Days' both made
Number 1 and Craig was the hottest property in the music industry.
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| CD
fans outside the Guildhall |
A UK
tour brought a triumphant return to Southampton Guildhall for BBC
Two's Later with Jools Holland along with Moby, Peter Gabriel and
Gabrielle. In Autumn 2000 he was back on home ground, topping the
bill himself. Three MOBO awards and a record six Brit nominations
showed Craig to be one of the biggest names in UK music.
2001 was spent conquering America. A massive publicity blitz was followed
by a nationwide tour at the start of 2002. It must have worked, as
he was one of the few British artists nominated for a prestigious
Grammy Award.
Following his massive success, both in the UK and in the USA, coming
back to Southampton is certainly different for Craig now. He told
Radio 1: "My friends are really cool and down to earth and I can phone
them up, we can go out and do 'normal' stuff, and I really appreciate
and enjoy that. I can go and see my mum and my family and everyone."
"Normal stuff for me now is a case of if you wanna go for a meal we
can go to like this really hidden location for a restaurant or something.
That's the closest to normal I can get. I can't walk through the high
street or anywhere really around my estate in the same way."
By 2002 Craig was ready to release his second album Slicker Than Your
Average, also produced by his old Southampton mate, Mark Hill.
Although the album hit included a duet with Sting, Rise and Fall,
singles didn't chart as highly as before, spawning worries that Craig
had neglected his fan base in the UK during his year in America.
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| Saints'
fan Craig |
However
he proved his heart was still very much in Southampton - especially
when the Southampton football team made it through to the 2003 FA
Cup Final Craig wore a Saints shirt on stage at the Royal Albert Hall.
Much of 2003 was spent back on the road - his UK tour climaxing with
an exclusive gig back in his hometown, playing to just 500 lucky fans
at the Hampshire Rose Bowl in October. Next stop a world tour hitting
South East Asia, Australia, South Africa and Europe.
The story continues ...
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