It has been over 25 years since Craig David first burst onto the music scene but the star has no urge to revisit those old-school tracks.
At just 17, Craig was discovered after featuring on Re-Rewind by Artful Dodger which reached the dizzying height of number two on UK charts in 1999.
This instant and early success paved the way for his solo career, solidified by hits Fill Me In and (of course) 7 Days.
However, the now 45-year-old singer won’t be re-recording his old tracks with a fresh twist anytime soon.
He told Metro.co.uk the memories fans have of those songs are far too ‘special’ to mess with by releasing new versions.
‘To be honest, I wouldn’t go there,’ Craig said. ‘Another artist remixing your record or sampling your record is cool but I just feel it lives in that space now.
‘When you go in and try and change it, it just doesn’t land the same way as when you did it the first time around.’
That doesn’t mean fans won’t hear the classics when heading to a TS5 tour show as Craig is more than willing to sing acapella versions or do a remix.
He continued: ‘It’s just a different flex on it but I think revisiting some tunes, you have to be really careful because they hold memories with people at certain times.
‘When you go there in your different place and time, it’s like *sighs*.’
For the Hot Stuff (Let’s Dance) rapper his music is more about how the fans feel than making things to indulge himself.
Events like his recent 15-minute mini London gig in collaboration with Persil were free for fans in the know, with covers such as TLC’s No Scrubs alongside his hits.
‘It’s so not about me,’ grinned Craig. ‘There was a point when I was first writing music where it was about “I want to go out there, I want to play this for you, I want to know how it feels to experience this”.
‘Then it comes to another point where you recognise that the anecdotes and stories that people tell you over the years of being on holiday, meeting their partner, just a special memory for them with a song that’s one of mine.
‘It becomes not about me, it’s about what am I doing and what service can I bring. I love it.’
Craig calls it a ‘privilege’ to be able to help ‘heal’ the crowds by playing tracks which bring joy and allow them to escape.
Even at the (random) Persil Wonder Wash mini raves in a laundrette, the 14-time Brit award nominee was just excited to play music in a different setting than his usual gigs.
‘Ultimately it’s about the music,’ he shared. ‘A pop-up mini rave, I thought was really really cool. The DJ shows I do, it’s always the pop-up ones I want to do more of where it’s in random places.’
After nearly three decades in the industry, it is these chaotic creative choices that keep Craig feeling inspired and ‘current’.
That’s not to say he doesn’t look back at all, instead, he views the ‘challenges’ he has faced as more akin to the seasons, with life ebbing and flowing.
‘We all continue to have an inner child that wants to play and wants to remind you [never to] take things too seriously,’ he explained.
‘The things that were tough and things that were difficult, years later become wisdom. If you have the ability to be graceful in times which are up and down, you’ll be able to see life as complete.
‘If you’re not too stuck on the need to be number one, I need to be at the top and you can appreciate that there are actually seasons and they are important.’
While he’s not having a brat summer, Craig joked: ‘I’m having the authentic wave summer, where nothing’s getting pushed under the carpet. Nothing.
‘We are bringing it all out. We’ll call that “outside authentic summer” — we’ve got to abbreviate that.’
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