Editing Craig David (section)

===Early career===
David's earliest exposure came when he worked on a B-side to British group [[Damage (British group)|Damage]]'s cover of "[[Wonderful Tonight#Damage version|Wonderful Tonight]]", on the track "I'm Ready". He then started doing vocals for the [[UK garage]] duo [[Artful Dodger (duo)|Artful Dodger]], on tracks such as "Something" and "What Ya Gonna Do".

[[Telstar Records|Wildstar Records]] first became aware of David when the artist's then manager Paul Widger met the label's co-owner [[Colin Lester]] and played some of his music.<ref name="hitquarters">{{cite web |url=http://www.hitquarters.com/index.php3?page=intrview/opar/intrview_Colin_Lester_Interview.html |title=Interview With Colin Lester |publisher=[[HitQuarters]] |date=10 December 2001 |access-date=3 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303221123/http://www.hitquarters.com/index.php3?page=intrview%2Fopar%2Fintrview_Colin_Lester_Interview.html |archive-date=3 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Lester later told [[HitQuarters]] that he was particularly impressed by the first song he heard, "[[Walking Away (Craig David song)|Walking Away]]", saying "That was an absolute stand-out ... It struck me that any seventeen-year-old that could write a song like this had huge potential."<ref name="hitquarters"/> The Wildstar boss was further won over when, on later visiting the artist's home in Southampton, he found David's tiny bedroom stacked from floor to ceiling with 12" vinyl records, commenting: "That convinced me he was the real deal and not just some kid acting out the part."<ref name="hitquarters"/> At that point Lester offered him a development deal with his label. When Lester later heard the song "[[7 Days (Craig David song)|7 Days]]", he said he immediately heard a number-one record and promoted the contract to an album deal the same day.<ref name="hitquarters"/>