A home-grown musical prodigy

Craig David is not short exactly of fans at the moment. But the person he's happiest to call a fan is his mum, Tina.

She's stopped working now and spends most of her time at home on Southampton's Holyrood estate, where the 19 year-old overnight musical sensation has lived all his life, painstakingly recording and filing as many of Craig's TV, newspaper or magazine appearances as she can.

It's an act of devotion typical of most mothers. For many mothers, it would be an act of private devotion - a thankless task.

But Tina's devotion to her son is returned tenfold. Craig not only declares himself proud of his Southampton roots, but more especially of his mother and the family home where his young dreams were nurtured and have now blossomed to such stunning effect.

"She's really, really proud of me. To see her son going out there and achieving is fantastic for her. And she's so into what I am doing, listening to all the radio and TV programmes," says Craig, with barely concealed excitement at the exalted musical position he now occupies.

When you consider it was only September last year he actually signed his first record deal, the fresh-faced teenager's rise to international stardom has been more than meteoric.

Some pop artists would struggle to get themselves up and dressed in 10 months. But in that relatively short space of time, Southampton's most famous son has had three number one hits - ReRewind, a collaboration with those other home-grown musos, The Artful Dodger, which knocked Cliff Richard's Millennium Prayer from the top spot in December, his debut solo single Fill Me In in April and his second single, Seven Days, has just been knocked off the top spot by Robbie Williams. His debut album, Born To Do It, is released on Monday and this is destined for the top as well.

Impressive enough by any standards - but even more so given his age and the fact he grew up in Southampton ( a city whose many qualities do not include producing musical geniuses - unless you count Benny Hill).

Add to that the international acclaim he has received as a songwriter - the fact he's not related to Puff Daddy and Michael Jackson - and it wouldn't be an overstatement to describe the bobble-haired youngster as something of a prodigy.

After less than a year in the business, Craig exudes the slickness, confidence and professionalism of a seasoned performer.

But, although he's clearly been groomed to within an inch of his life - with ultra-trendy clothes, little woolly hat, topiaried facial hair and Mr T style jewellery, he resembles a slightly more restrained version of Ali G - his music is obviously more important to him then any of the showbiz trapping he enjoys as the UK's most feted pop star.

"Music is a way of communication. What I like best is being on stage performing my music. I would like to take it to other countries, for them to embrace it." He says.

For the moment, though, he's still reeling from the speed of his ascendancy.

"It's been really hectic, but I'm just flattered people are asking me about my background. But sometimes I get a bit frustrated because I haven't got as much time as I used to to concentrate on my music."

Unlike some other overnight sensations, Craig has had to work hard for his success. But far from being a chore, the time and energy that's gone into his music has simply been the result of his burning desire to create.

At 14, Craig was already MC-ing for the pirate radio station PCRS 106.5FM and several Southampton clubs.

"For me it started with my MC-ing and DJ-ing," he says.

"I met up with a guy called DJ Flash. He was my chaperone. He was a lot older, which is why my parents were cool about it.

"It got to the point where I wanted to start DJ-ing myself. A lot of people were quite interested in what I did. One moment I would be playing the songs, the next I would be harmonising and singing."

As a gifted youngster, Craig even won a national songwriting competition, giving him a chance to help write a B-side for the boy band Damage. The Daily Echo was there three years ago when he met the band at Power in the Park.

Ironically, he shared the programme with them at this year's Power event - and no doubt caused more excitement among the thousands who flocked to Southampton Common to see him then the rest of the acts put together.

"Writing a song for Damage and then to be invited to see them perform at the Power in the park was exciting. To be on the same bill as them this year was just strange," he says.

"Winning that competition gave me a lot of motivation to keep writing songs, but it wasn't really my big break."

Work commitments, including an exhausting round of interviews and personal appearances to promote his self-penned album, Born To Do it, keep him away from home for much of the time - but he insists home really is where his heart is.

And you've never heard anyone eulogise as much as Craig does about Southampton.

"At the moment, it's hard to get down there and get back to London for the next day, but I try to get down there," he says.

"For me, I'm really proud to say I'm from Southampton. It hasn't been known as a massive musical scene as much as London. But now it's really starting to vibe and thrive off it.

Southampton is one of the places I want to bring my music to. It's my home town, so I'm always going to bring things back here.

"When people ask me about myself, Southampton is always going to be the first thing that comes off my tongue.

"There's so much here, all across the board."

If home is where his heart is, then his musical soul is in his bedroom. Specially adapted over the years as a kind of mini-music factory, most of his songs were written here.

So important is it to him that, even if he never sleeps there again - an unlikely scenario - he has vowed to preserve it in it's present state.

"Everything in my bedroom has been customised over 19 years. I know where everything is in there. I don't need anything else in my bedroom.

"Most of my songs have been written there. I'd say I feel a lot more comfortable writing in my bedroom then anywhere else, for that reason. My decks are set up just the way I like them."

With his new-found fame, Craig is at last making public something that was, in it's way, intensely personal. Even though he was MC-ing in packed clubs as a young teenager, he never got involved in music at Bellemoor School, Shirley - except to get told off for singing in class and making the occasional appearance in end-of-term talent shows.

It might have occupied his every waking thought, but writing and performing was something he saved for his own time.

Music was an essential part of the David household and an obsessive pastime for only-child Craig.

His father, George, who left home when Craig was younger, was a reggae fan and sang in several local bands.

"My mum and dad influenced me in terms of the music they played, with my dad's reggae and my mum's pop and soul. My dad got me guitar lessons when I was 11," says Craig.

"Everything has influenced me really, but it was the MC-ing in the clubs that helped me develop that fast singing style.

"For me the songs are always about the melody first. That should be really strong. Then I'll sit down and write the words. That doesn't normally take too long. All the songs are events and situations that I've been through, so I can tell it how it is.

"A lot of the songs on the album were written while I was searching for a record deal, let alone an album deal. Some of the others were written in the studio.

"But now I've got a laptop which I can actually use to put down vocals, so now I can write anywhere really. I was in Spain recently for MTV and wrote a flamenco song while I was there."

Craig is one of those pop stars you can always rely on to dispense a little pearl of wisdom every time they open their mouth.

"Everything's happening so fast, it's difficult to take it all in," he reflects

"But, the kind of person I am, I realise everything around me is great and that I should enjoy it, but at the same time I want to stay grounded. You're only as good as your last single. I never take things for granted.

"Personally I haven't changed. I'm still the same Craig David writing songs in is bedroom wishing for a record deal."

He may be young, but he's got an old head on those expensively-clad shoulders.