Craig David, a hitmaker since 2000, is still getting audiences dancing

An engagement prompt that occasionally makes the rounds on social media asks users to pick just one classic album from 2000. In a grid next to Sade and Toni Braxton albums are iconic offerings and cover art like a sleepy-eyed Erykah Badu framed on the cover of “Mama’s Gun” and D’Angelo and his abs on “Voodoo.” There’s also one with a young man in a knit hat, eyes closed and vibing out, presumably to the album within.

Unlike the neo-soul favored by Badu, D’Angelo and the rest of the class of 2000, David’s music seamlessly blended R&B melodies with the shuffling, syncopated rhythms of U.K. garage — a particularly durable strain of dance music that has influenced a range of artists, including Disclosure, Charli XCX and Kelela.

David remembers first hearing U.K. garage when he’d be DJing the same venue as scene-leading duo Artful Dodger. He would pop into their sets and hear remixes of R&B hits like K-Ci & JoJo’s “All My Life” and Jaheim’s “Just In Case” remixed into crowd-moving dance tunes — a dynamic he loved.

“Slow jams allow you to melodically get the message across,” he explains. “Because of the tempo, it allows you to breathe and it allows you to flex, which is beautiful. But the garage allowed it to become dance without interfering with those important parts as a songwriter.”