Fictional pirate radio crew Kurupt FM say they reached out to Craig David for a collaboration in order to give the Brit Award-nominated star “a bit more limelight”.
The group, stars of Bafta-winning BBC mockumentary series People Just Do Nothing, have teamed up with garage music vocalist David for their new single Summertime, taken from their upcoming debut album.
Allan Mustafa’s MC Grindah, Hugo Chegwin’s DJ Beats and Asim Chaudhry’s Chabuddy G are also preparing to release a film, titled Big In Japan, in which the hapless and unsuccessful music group fly around the world chasing fame and fortune.
Speaking to the PA news agency in character, MC Grindah said it was good to give back to an artist, such as 40-year-old David, they had “inspired”.
He said: “We did this thing called 60 Minutes where we took over Mistajam’s studio a couple of years ago. Obviously, we said, ‘Who are people we have probably inspired along the way and how could we give them a little bit more limelight?’. Shabzy suggested Craig, didn’t you?
Chabuddy G replied: “He is a young, struggling artist and we thought, ‘You know what, we will give the kid a shot’.
MC Grindah said the collaboration had prompted them to record the single, co-produced by MJ Cole and Fred Again.
Referencing the events of the BBC Two TV show, which ended in 2018, he said: “From that we have the link, the connection. We were laying low for a bit. A few personal things were happening in my life where I had to move away.
“And now I really feel like I am back in the right frame of mind to be releasing more music. So we thought, ‘Let’s holler Craig’. That’s how it happened really.”
MC Grindah said the film would show Kurupt FM attempting to bring garage music to audiences abroad.
“We can’t really say too much about the film,” he said.
“What we can say is that we wanted to go and see something a little bit different and spread garage around the world.
“Where to start than one of the best places in the world, we found out, Japan. Because they are so advanced.”
People Just Do Nothing was created by Mustafa, Chaudhry, Chegwin and Steve Stamp, with the series first airing on BBC Three in 2014.
It follows the crew as they run a pirate radio station playing garage music from Brentford. The fifth and final series aired on BBC Two in 2018.
Kurupt FM are taking over Subway’s instore radio station across the UK and Ireland and online for a week from May 17.