Craig David

The making of a British superstar

"When you meet an artist who's so talented, it's worth whatever it takes to get him. It must be what it felt like to first meet Stevie Wonder. It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing - luckily, it's in our lifetime."

Quote by:Craig Kallman Executive vice president of Atlantic Records

How often does the UK get an urban or pop act that is not only nominated for six Brit Awards but doesn't actually win any thing. Now the world may find it hard to believe, but that is a fact. Was Craig not good enough? Was he out of his depth? Or was he put in the same categories of stars who were way above his standards? Whatever the outcome of the 2001 Brit Awards, Craig was a winner and no one was going to take that away from him.

This 19 year old guy from Southampton, seems to have achieved something that most Brits past or present, black or white have struggled to achieve. Starting as most do, writing songs to other artist backing tracks, changing lyrics to a song and calling it his own. I mean, is that the beginnings of something special? Not exactly. Craig MC-ed along side DJ's in many clubs in both Southampton and London, refining his skills. At the age 14, Craig was MC-ing on local pirate radio stations, as well as at the biggest clubs in his area eventually moving onto the decks himself.

Craig, like most young black guys growing up in the UK or any part of the world, wanted to be an R'n'B star, fashioning himself after the likes of Terence Trent D'arby, Jodeci, Joe, Usher and most of the rubbish that the Americans shipped over here. But he soon found himself being pulled to the energy of garage with the heavy reggae baselines and it's high energy tempos. He had found something - something that is first of all English, something that he could mold and make his own and he found this with the help of Mark Hill (one half of Artful Dodger). Music began to evolve and the rest is history (in the making).

Craig has since gone gold in nine countries and platinum in another ten. He was earlier this year the focus of an intense bidding war involving Bad Boy, Arista, Columbia, Virgin and Atlantic Record. Craig signed with Atlantic, but why the big turn around? Why the sudden interest? Is it because Craig is noticeably becoming a great star? And why not the same interest earlier on in his career?

I found it incredible that practically all the A&R's in the UK failed to realise that Craig was an obvious star - turning him down one after the other and unashamedly boasting about having his demo in their office. Darcus Bees of Island Records proudly produced a demo tape saying "yeah! we had Craig in the office". Matthew Ross of Columbia Records had Craig perform three private showcases and still failed too see the talent that this one guy has - how blind, deaf or foolish can any British A&R be...?

Universal Records, Warner, Columbia and even insignificant independent labels turned Craig David way. Amazing! I'd love to know the reason why they signed and dropped the acts they had and not Craig, but I doubt if I'll get an honest answer from these clowns. How do they manage to keep their jobs?

Whereas, our American cousins have bought into the vibe that surrounds this amazing talent but it's not going to be an easy job. The last English R'n'B track to have broken the US charts was Mark Morrison's "Return Of The Mack". Even some of UK's major acts like Oasis and Robbie Williams found it tremendously hard to break that particular market.

What is it about English music that the US fail to understand. We had Omar and Don-E doing Nu Classic Soul way before D'Angelo or Maxwell thought it was fashionable or cool, but yet apart from respect from a few individuals these guys fail to scratch the surface - the Americans didn't get it!! The basic and simple reason for this, is that Americans are not open-minded enough and seem to believe that everything great comes from the so called "Land of Hope and Glory".

But will Craig suffer the fate of many of his English counterparts or will they open up to this two step revolution that's taking the world by storm? After entering Billboard's Hot 100 charts at No.41, Craig is determained to work till he achieves his goal no matter how slow the process maybe.

His immense talent, coupled with his charm and youthful enthusiasm will hopefully leave the Americans in no doubt that with this new voice and new sound this youthful star has the right essence, drive and determination to shine through into the millenium, and fly the flag for the UK.