Craig Ashley David (born 5 May 1981) is an English R&B singer-songwriter. He has released four studio albums: Born to Do It, Slicker Than Your Average, The Story Goes..., and Trust Me with the Greatest Hits album on the way in November 2008.
The success of his debut, which was written almost entirely by David and Mark Hill of Artful Dodger, led to the U.S. release of "Fill Me In" in May 2001. It proved a success, reaching #15 on the Billboard Hot 100. Born to Do It was released in the U.S. on July 17 2001, peaking at #11 on the Billboard 200 and sold over one million copies. The single "7 Days" nevertheless hit the Top 10 in the U.S., although "Walking Away", which had reached #3 in the UK and #5 in Australia, missed the Top 40 in the U.S. and was the last of his singles to chart there.
The follow-up album, Slicker Than Your Average, was released in 2002 and fared considerably less well than his debut. None of the six singles released from the album charted in the U.S. Although "What's Your Flava?" and "Rise & Fall" (duet with Sting) received airplay on the Urban contemporary and Soft AC formats, they did not make the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Tracks chart or the Adult Contemporary chart. However, "What's Your Flava?" made the Rhythmic Top 40 (#32), Top 40 Mainstream (#24) and the Top 40 Tracks (#37). The albums' first four singles continued his streak of Top 10 hits in the UK, bringing a total of nine consecutive Top 10 hits until "World Filled with Love" peaked at #15 in 2003. According to the RIAA Slicker Than Your Average reached Gold Status in the USA.
David later signed on with Warner Music and put together his third album, The Story Goes..., released worldwide in August 2005 (excluding the U.S. where it was never released). The first single, "All the Way", returned him to the Top 3, and the second single, "Don't Love You No More (I'm Sorry)", tied with "7 Days" as his longest running single in the charts since "Rewind", spending 15 weeks inside the UK Top 75. The album's third single, "Unbelievable", debuted at #18 in March 2006.
In 2007, he collaborated with UK rapper Kano on his upcoming album London Town, for the single "This is the Girl". The track was released on August 27 2007 and debuted at #18 on the UK charts.
The first single "Hot Stuff" from the album Trust Me, was released on November 5 2007 . The single was a top ten hit, whilst the album charted at #18 on the UK Albums Chart.
"6 of 1 Thing", the second single to be taken from Trust Me charted at thirty-nine on the UK Singles Chart, becoming his third lowest charting single to date.
'Officially Yours' was released on June 23rd 2008 and peaked at #158 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming his lowest charting single to date and was the final single from 'Trust Me'.
This by no means meant the end of 2008 for David. In July 2008, a new track titled 'Are You Up For This' started receiving airplay on various radio stations as part of a promo with Ice Cream Records, which also featured a remix with Witty Boy.
17th August 2008 saw David perform in a birthday tribute concert for songwriter Don Black, Lyrics by Don Black, at the London Palladium. He performed the song Ben, originally a hit for Michael Jackson.
David took part in Soccer Aid 2008 at Wembley Stadium on 7th September 2008. He picked up the 'Man of The Match' award on the night and played in the same England side as ex-internationals such as Alan Shearer, Teddy Sheringham and David Seaman.
Later that month on September 11th, Ice Cream Records announced that 'Where's Your Love' featuring Tinchy Stryder would be released on November 10th 2008 in the UK with the "Greatest Hits" album following on November 24th.
The end of 2008 continued to show promise for David after receiving two nominations for the 2008 UK Urban Music Awards for 'Best Album' with Trust Me and 'Best R&B Act'.
As part of the upcoming "Greatest Hits" compilation, David has re-recorded 'Walking Away' with various artists from different countries such as Monrose from Germany and Lynnsha from France. Each act has re-recorded the track with David and recorded a new video for the song in London.
At present it remains to be seen what will feature on the compilation of hits, but David has earlier revealed he has worked with hit producers Danja Handz and Eddie Galan on the record and that the new Ice Cream Records tracks are being considered for the final tracklist.
"Insomnia" will be the first single to be taken from his new "Greatest Hits" album. Produced by Jim Beanz from Timbaland Productions, it is a hot dance track with hard bassline beats. The single will be released on November 17th a week ahead of the "Greatest Hits" album on November 24th.
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | US | US R&B | AUS | ITA | |||
| 2000 | Born to Do It | 1 | 11 | 12 | 2 | 7 | |
| 2002 | Slicker Than Your Average
| 4 | 32 | 17 | 5 | 11 | |
| 2005 | The Story Goes...
| 5 | — | — | 9 | 5 | |
| 2007 | Trust Me
| 18 | — | 58 | 59 | 19 | |
| 2008 | Greatest Hits
| TBR | TBR | TBR | TBR | TBR | |
| Year | Song | Chart positions | Album | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | U.S. Hot 100 | U.S. R&B | IRE | AUS | FRA | ITA | SWE | NL | |||
| 1998 | "What You Gonna Do?" (Artful Dodger feat. Craig David) | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | It's All About the Stragglers |
| 1999 | "Rewind" (Artful Dodger feat. Craig David) | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 4 | |
| 2000 | "Woman Trouble" (Artful Dodger and Robbie Craig feat. Craig David) | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 63 | |
| "Fill Me In" | 1 | 15 | 19 | 7 | 6 | 34 | 29 | 28 | 5 | Born to Do It | |
| "7 Days" | 1 | 10 | 52 | 3 | 4 | 19 | 7 | 21 | 6 | ||
| 2001 | "Walking Away" | 3 | 44 | 5 | 9 | 5 | 22 | 15 | 13 | 7 | |
| "Rendezvous" | 8 | — | — | 29 | 28 | 61 | 49 | — | 56 | ||
| 2002 | "What's Your Flava?" | 8 | 104 | — | 22 | 10 | 20 | 12 | 31 | 24 | Slicker Than Your Average |
| 2003 | "Hidden Agenda" | 10 | 119 | — | — | 24 | 70 | 20 | 49 | 28 | |
| "Rise & Fall" (feat. Sting) | 2 | — | — | 5 | 6 | 15 | 8 | 35 | 9 | ||
| "Spanish" (feat. Duke One) | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 83 | ||
| "World Filled with Love" | 15 | — | — | — | 32 | 83 | — | — | — | ||
| 2004 | "You Don't Miss Your Water ('Til the Well Runs Dry)" | 43 | — | — | — | 180 | — | — | — | — | |
| 2005 | "All the Way" | 3 | — | — | 27 | 31 | 23 | 12 | 33 | — | The Story Goes... |
| "Don't Love You No More (I'm Sorry)" | 4 | — | — | 30 | 49 | 45 | 35 | — | — | ||
| 2006 | "Unbelievable" | 18 | — | — | — | 96 | — | — | — | — | |
| 2007 | "This is the Girl" (with Kano) | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Trust Me |
| "Hot Stuff (Let's Dance)" | 7 | — | — | 19 | 29 | 15 | 18 | 10 | 37 | ||
| 2008 | "6 of 1 Thing" | 39 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Officially Yours" | 158 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Insomnia" | TBR | TBR | TBR | TBR | TBR | TBR | TBR | TBR | TBR | Greatest Hits | |
| Year | Song | Artist | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | "No More" | Guru (feat. Craig David) | Jazzmatazz, Vol. 3: Streetsoul |
| 2007 | "Bad Boy" | Kano (feat. Craig David) | London Town |
| 2008 | "Diamond Girl (Remix)" | Ryan Leslie (feat. Craig David & Mims) | Ryan Leslie |
| Title | Off Album/Single | Length |
|---|---|---|
| "Apartment 543" | Walking Away | 4:24 |
| "Are You Up For This" | 3:12 | |
| "Can You Feel Me" | All the Way | 4:13 |
| "Cocoa Butter" | 5:20 | |
| "Exception To The Rule" | Don't Love You No More (I'm Sorry) | 4:19 |
| "Four Times A Lady" | What's Your Flava? | 5:30 |
| "Girl In A Subway (Remix)" (feat. Amastar) | 7 Days | 3:32 |
| "Girls Around The World" | 1:47 | |
| "Human" | Walking Away | 4:05 |
| "My First Love" | Sex and the City, Vol. 2: More Music | 4:17 |
| "Nobody Has To Know" | What's Your Flava? | 4:40 |
| "Say The Word" | Slicker Than Your Average | 4:50 |
| "Smoothed Out" | 4:35 | |
| "Static" | You Don't Miss Your Water ('Til the Well Runs Dry) | 4:52 |