craig david - rendezvous

...where the south coast soul prodigy proves an important part of the recent rehabilitation of male r'n'b (cf. 112, n.e.r.d., usher). the original version of this song may have been slightly rubbish, but the blacksmith remix is an unlikely success. the beat is shamelessly stolen from dj premier, and i suspect the vocals are time-compressed in the style of most 2-step remixes, yet it comes off as an incredible performance, the swooniest, sweetest, yearningest thing on the radio all year. also, as the remix omits the "getting jiggy just for fun" line, even the lyrics are brilliant. i think i'm in love with craig david.

key moment: the bassline drops out, craig sings "well here i am, writing you a love song/holding back those years, it's been so long", and you can't doubt the fella means it.