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Craig David: 'Slicker than your average'
(CNN) -- British R&B performer Craig David called his 2001 debut album "Born To Do It." It seems he was right. The release sold 7 million copies worldwide, spurred by hits like "Fill Me In" and the infectious "7 Days," which recently won David a Grammy nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. The 21-year-old David's latest release, "Slicker Than Your Average," departs from the innocent, romantic lyrics of his first album. Released in November, his sophomore effort is laced with dark references to the effects of fame on his life, and has a more complex, edgier sound. CNN recently caught up with David to get the skinny on "Slicker Than Your Average." CNN: What's been going on since the last album? DAVID: We have been doing a lot of that rehearsal stuff with the new album, getting the band really tight with the new songs. They know the first album stuff so well that I think that when it came to the new ones, they were like, "All right, how are we going to do this?" So I wanted to spend a lot of time making sure that was really tight. We've also gone out and done all the promotion for the album and we are scheduling a tour for this year which is amazing. I never thought I would be doing a karaoke tour of Southampton in the U.K., where I'm from, let alone a world tour. I'm really excited about getting out on the road and doing some stuff. CNN: What's the album about? DAVID: This new album is very much about how creatively and musically and vocally I've progressed through my touring. But lyrically, I just wanted to say, "This is me as a 21-year-old in this world that has changed since September 11," and how that affected me and how traveling and meeting all these different people, and going to all these different destinations has affected me. But I still kind-of put in a way that people could relate to. It has been a journey and that's what an album should be like. When I get to my fifth album I don't know what kinds of things I'll be up to, but it's definitely going to be interesting.
CNN: It sounds like you went for a totally different sound on this album from, say, your very first single, "Fill Me In." DAVID: Right. There's a vast difference between (my earlier songs) and (the first single off my recent album) "What's Your Flava." It was a conscious decision for me to say I want to make slight differences, to show that I can do something that is a little bit out there, a little bit left-field, and push the production to the forefront slightly without compromising the song. The first album was very much about simplistic production: Here's the song. Vocals carry it. But I think if you maintain a certain formula, sometimes people will look at you and say, "This guy .... he needs to be a little bit more cutting-edge." So I wanted to come up with something that could have gone completely wrong. It was great to be able to go with that risk. CNN: What are you listening to these days? DAVID: Right now I'm listening to India.Arie. I loved her first album, and acoustically she nailed (her latest) album. ("Voyage to India") Back to The Music Room main page.
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