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Craig David - Born To Do It

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Craig David is only nineteen, and he's the king of two-step. It's hard to believe David wasn't singing right from the beginning. He's got one of the smoothest voices in house or R&B these days. But before he was a singer, David was a DJ, in love with American music, spinning hip-hop and R&B at Southampton's Juice. Then he tried his hand at songwriting. He first hit the charts in 1996, not as a singer, but a songwriter, with Damage's I'm Ready which went to number 3 in Britain. It was when he teamed up with Artful Dodger that he became the two-step monolith we know today. No-one in England around Christmas 99 could escape Re-Rewind, David and Artful Dodger's bouncy megahit. This launched David, and soon after, he put out his first album, Born To Do It. It captivated the UK instantly, winning David three MOBO awards for the single Fill Me In. Soon the jittery, soulful two-step track was picked up by American radio. Since then, David's music and good looks have made him a TRL staple and the lust object of several thousand teenage girls.

David's a master of two-step rhythm. The tracks on Born To Do It are irresistibly danceable. But he's also a ridiculously talented vocalist. Being a scholar of American soul and rap doesn't hurt him, either. 7 Days sounds like a kicked-up Jodeci, or what Jay-Z's intricate phrasing and pacing would sound like if he could sing it. There's almost no trace of David's English accent when he sings. The only clues he's not a born-and-raised American come from his lyrics. He talks about an Ansaphone in Fill Me In, and his girl's parents are Mum--not Mom--and Dad.

Can't Be Messing continues the two-step genius, with lyrics and beats Sisqo would sell his thong collection to have written. This is going to be a giant club hit. Key To My Heart takes the tempo down to traditional R&B. It would be Backstreet Boys-boring if the cadence weren't so clever and the vocals so effortless. But the fact that it was David, not some Max Martin clone, who wrote it, and that it sounds like he's not even breaking a sweat executing it so perfectly, makes it sweet and smooth. David sounds so flawless you would swear his voice has been modulated in the studio with one of those Cher-Daft Punk gadgets. I thought so, until I saw him live on HBO's Reverb and realized all his amazing vocal tricks are one hundred percent him.

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