Flashback: Craig David

With the release of his Greatest Hits just around the corner, why not go back, way back, to his first album, the album that made his career.

I've said before that Brits make amazing R&B, but what makes it amazing is that they don't just copy US trends, they take some and make it into something the British public will adore. The issue of identity has always been a big factor for me liking a certain artist. Unlike some American artists, British know who they are(at least from most of the British albums I've heard). They change, yes, but you can hear how much they stick to their roots, because from the start, they know who they are as artists.

Fill Me In(which he was Nominated at the Grammies for..) is an amazing song, and it's become the standard for every other Craig David song. This song was the perfect single, it highlighted his voice, set his standards and showed that he could really write a song, and do it well. Here's one of my favorite performances of Fill Me In, it's just genius!



When you listen to the album, you hear fourteen different songs, but in each song is a similarity in genre and style that, by just listening to it once, you know is Craig David. The similarities aren't spelled out, but listen carefully enough and you'll hear them. Once you hear them, you begin to appreciate Craig David even more, and you see just how much work he put into the album.

After Fill Me In, we got 7 Days as a single, which became his most successful single since. It was nominated for 2 BRITS and ANOTHER freakin' Grammy! How many people his age, and in his genre can do that? Plus that fact that he's British, and not a lot of Brits crack the US market.

This is what I meant when you don't really hear the similarities between the songs if you just listen to the surface, but when you listen carefully, you can hear that Craig David really knows who he is, and he shows us that, something not a lot of artists can actually do.

It's amazing how a guy like Craig David, at such a young age, could achieve that amount of success with just his first album. I mean, 2 self-written UK number one singles, six BRIT nominations, 2 Grammy nominations and heaps of other awards just for that album are testament to just how amazing he is.

Born to Do It has become one of the biggest albums by a UK R&B artist, 6x Platinum in the UK and Platinum in the US. I think that's enough proof that Craig David knows what he's doing, and he does it well.

NOTE: I wrote this review before I read this interview, which made me admire Craig David even more than I already do. So check the interview out, OK?

Don't forget to get your copy of his Greatest Hits when it comes out on November 24!