Craig Ashley David MBE (born 5 May 1981) is a British singer, songwriter, rapper, DJ and record producer who rose to fame in 1999, featuring on the single "Re-Rewind" by Artful Dodger. David's debut studio album, Born to Do It, was released in 2000, after which he has released a further five studio albums and worked with a variety of artists such as Sting, Tinchy Stryder, Big Narstie, Kano and Jay Sean. David has 20 UK Top 40 singles, and seven UK Top 40 albums, selling over 15,000,000 records worldwide as a solo artist. David has been nominated for fourteen Brit Awards: five times for Best British Male, and twice receiving a Grammy Award nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. David was born in Southampton, Hampshire, the son of Tina (née Loftus), a retail assistant at Superdrug, and George David, a carpenter, and grew up in the Holyrood estate. David's father is Afro-Grenadian and David's mother is Anglo-Jewish and related to the founders of the Accurist watch-making company; David's maternal grandfather was an Orthodox Jew and his maternal grandmother a convert to Judaism. David's parents separated when he was eight and he was brought up by his mother. He attended Bellemoor School and Southampton City College. David was bullied by other students at school. He wrote and released the song "Johnny" in 2005 about his sad memories of being bullied. David's father played bass in a reggae band called Ebony Rockers. As a teen, David began accompanying his father to local dance clubs, where DJs let him take the microphone. On 9 September 2020, David signed a global publishing deal with New York-based Round Hill Music. The agreement includes all of David's music catalogue to date, and also includes a futures agreement that will see all of his new music administered by the company. On 30th December 2020, David was announced on the Queen’s New Year Honours List to receive an MBE in recognition of his services to music. His manager Colin Lester was also awarded an OBE in recognition of his services to the music industry and to charity.