Craig David still just not black enough

British R&B singer Craig David became embroiled in a race row in the United States this week after a radio producer requested that he remove all traces of whiteness from his image.

David had reacted with anger after a TV producer earlier asked him to drop his white guitarist, Fraser T Smith, to ensure that he appealed to the channel's black audience. When the radio station requested that he not only drop Smith but also stop talking to or associating with any white people anywhere, David's reaction was more bemused than cross.

"I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do here," the bearded singer told The Rockall Times. "I mean, the Fraser thing was bad enough. But now they want me to sack my manager, my publicist, my makeup artist, my assistant, my accountant, my percussionist, my keyboard player, half my roadies, my booking agent, one of my security guys and my driver. I might as well just go home really. But I'm from Southampton. Everyone I know is white. I guess they don't want me to go back there."

"My mum's white, too," David pointed out. "Should I sack her as well?"

When this was explained to the radio producer, Darnell Jackson, he looked concerned. "Oh shit, I hadn't thought of that," he said. "Can we paint him a bit blacker and cover up the mom thing?"

"You can't cover up my mum," David retorted, correcting his pronunciation. "I love her. She's my inspiration. She's a proud Jewish woman and you can't just..."

"She's Jewish?" Jackson said, rolling his eyes. "Jesus, who let this kid in here? Back to England with you, son."