Events0 results
About
Hannah Alicia Smith (born 19 June 1986) is a British house music DJ and producer better known by her stage name Hannah Wants, and a former professional footballer.
Wants began DJing in 2002 starting out playing speed garage before moving toward bass-influenced house blending new and old music. After three years of performing in small pubs she landed her first paid gig. Her breakthrough came in 2010 in Ibiza while on vacation from university, she was asked to fill in for a DJ to headline at the Es Paradis club. This was to be her first superclub gig after a series of competition wins at Es Viva workers' bar in Ibiza. This performance helped her land her first UK residency at the Rainbow Warehouse in Birmingham which led to regular bookings around England.
In 2010, Wants started creating bi-monthly mixtapes which she distributes on SoundCloud. Her early music was co-produced with Chris Lorenzo of Cause & Affect. Their single "Rhymes", inspired by the 2006 Busta Rhymes song "Touch It", reached #13 on the UK Singles Chart in February 2015.
Wants was named Best Breakthrough DJ in 2012 by both Mixmag and DJ Magazine. Mixmag named her 2014 Star of the Year and she won the 2015 DJ Award for Best Bass DJ and Best DJ at the 2015 Bass Music Awards.
In 2015, she had a residency on BBC Radio 1. She was also invited for a Radio 1 Essential Mix by Pete Tong which aired on 30 May 2015. Her 2015 Mixmag cover was the highest selling issue that year.
Also in 2015, Wants launched her brand What Hannah Wants, designed to showcase up-and-coming DJs with an annual DJ competition and tours.
In 2016, she released three singles on Cr2 Records: "Hidden Love" (featuring vocalist Detour City), "Just" and "Dot Com" (DJ Magazine's most played premiere of 2016). Wants produced the track "Dreamers" for the 2016 Katy B album Honey.
In September 2016 the blog Data Transmission premiered Wants' new track "Found the Ground". A few days later DJ Patrick Nazemi posted a Facebook video comparing the track to the Boddika VIP version of the 2012 track "Mercy" by Boddika and Joy Orbison, stating that the songs were nearly identical and accusing Wants of plagiarism. Others noted that there is a video of Wants playing the Boddika VIP version of "Mercy" in 2014 at a show in Leeds. Wants responded to the allegation stating that it was "no secret that the inspiration for the track was Joy O & Boddika – Mercy (VIP)" and that, while the tracks have similarities, she did not sample or plagiarize "Mercy (VIP)". The comparison video was removed by Nazemi shortly thereafter. "Found the Ground" appears on Wants' mix Fabriclive 89, released on 16 September 2016.